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THE    WORKS 
OF  GEORGE  BULL,   D.D. 

LORD  BISHOP  OF  ST.  DAVID'S, 

COLLECTED  AND  REVISED 


BY 


THE  REV.  EDWARD  BURTON,   D.D. 

FORMERLY  STUDENT,  AFTERWARDS  CANON   OF   CHRIST  CHURCH  AND 
REGIUS  PROFESSOR  OF  DIVINITY. 


TO  WHICH   IS   PREFIXED 


THE   LIFE   OF   BISHOP   BULL, 

BY 

ROBERT   NELSON,   ESQ. 


SECOND  EDITION. 


OXFORD: 

AT   THE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS. 
MDCCCXLVI. 


PREFACE, 


REVIOUS  to  stating  the  plan  and  the  contents 
of  the  present  edition  of  the  Works  of  bishop 
Bull,  some  account  may  be  given  of  the  former 
editions  of  his  works,  whether  printed  separately  or 
collectively. 

In  1670  he  published  at  London  the  Harmonia 
Apostolica  in  a  small  4to.  volume.  It  was  reprinted 
at  Basle  in  1740.  in  8vo. 

In  1676  he  published  at  London  the  Examen 
Censures  and  Apologia  in  one  volume  4to. 

In  1685  he  published  at  Oxford  the  Defensio 
Fidei  Niccente  in  one  volume  4to.  It  has  been 
reprinted  at  Amsterdam". 

In  1694  he  published  at  Oxford  the  Jiidicium 
Ecdesia;  Catholicce,  in  one  volume  8vo. 

In  1703  the  four  preceding  works  were  published 
at  London b  by  John  Ernest  Grabe,  in  one  volume 
folio,  together  with  a  new  tract,  Primitiva  et  Apo 
stolica  Traditio,  &c. 

a  The  Qth  chapter  of  the  second  section  is  printed  at  the  end 
of  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Benedictine  edition  of  Origen. 

b  The  bishop  of  Salisbury  (in  the  preface  to  a  work  published 
in  the  present  year)  speaks  of  the  university  of  Oxford  having- 
repvblished  Bulls  Harmonia  Apostolica  with  his  whole  works.  The 

a  2 


iv  PREFACE. 

In  1705  Dr.  George  Hickes  published  a  work  in 
two  volumes,  entitled,  Several  Letters  which  passed 
between  Dr.  G.  H.  and  a  popish  Priest,  &c.  In 
the  first  volume,  p.  225,  &c.,  he  inserted  a  work 
which  was  written  by  Dr.  Bull,  entitled,  The  Cor 
ruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  &c.,  an  account  of 
which  may  be  seen  in  Nelson's  Life  of  Bull,  p.  329- 
Dr.  Hickes  observes  in  his  preface,  that  an  imperfect 
abstract  of  this  work  had  stolen  into  print,  but  that 
he  now  published  it  with  the  author's  consent.  I 
have  not  been  able  to  meet  with  this  imperfect  ab 
stract  ;  but  in  the  History  of  the  Works  of  the 
Learned,  1703,  p.  610.  T  find  notice  of  a  book  with 
the  following  title,  The  Wonders  of  the  Bishop  of 
Meaux  upon  the  perusal  of  Dr.  Bull's  Booh  con 
sidered  and  answered;  and  it  is  not  improbable, 
that  this  is  the  work  alluded  to  by  Dr.  Hickes c. 
The  Corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome  had  ap 
parently  a  rapid  sale ;  for  I  have  seen  a  second  edi 
tion  of  it  printed  in  1707  in  12mo,  a  third  in  1708, 
and  a  fourth  in  1714  in  8vo.  In  all  these  later  edi- 


bishop  probably  alluded  to  Grabe's  edition,  forgetting  that  it  was 
printed,  not  in  Oxford,  but  in  London.  The  Harmonia  Aposto- 
lica  was  never  printed  at  Oxford  till  now  ;  and  the  university 
never  published  any  edition  of  Bull's  worts  before  the  present 
one. 

c  I  have  seen  notice  in  a  London  Catalogue  of  the  Corruptions 
of  the  Church  of  Rome  bearing  date  1697.  But  this  must  cer 
tainly  be  a  mistake,  since  Bossuet's  letter,  which  called  forth  this 
reply,  was  not  written  till  1700. 


PREFACE.  v 

tions  an  appendix  was  added,  containing  the  Differ 
ences  between  the  Churches  of  England  and  Rome, 
by  bishop  Cousins,  and  the  Creed  of  pope  Pius  IV. 
The  work  was  also  reprinted  by  Dr.  Burgess,  the 
present  bishop  of  Salisbury,  in  the  year  1813d;  and 
again  in  the  present  year  (1827)  at  the  end  of  a 
small  volume  entitled,  A  Review  and  Analysis  of 
Bishop  Bull's  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine  of  Justi 
fication,  by  Robert  Nelson,  Esq.,  extracted  from  his 
Life  of  Bishop  Bull.  It  was  also  printed  in  1814 
in  the  second  volume  of  the  collection  of  tracts, 
entitled,  The  Churchman  armed  against  the  Errors 
of  the  Time,  p.  51. 

In  1713,  when  the  bishop  had  been  dead  nearly 
three  years,  Robert  Nelson  published  an  edition  of 
his  English  Works  in  three  volumes  8vo,  the  title 
being,  Some  important  Points  of  primitive  Christ 
ianity  maintained  and  defended,  in  several  Ser 
mons  and  other  Discourses,  together  with  a  fourth 
volume  containing  his  Life.  None  of  these  Works 
had  hitherto  appeared  in  print.  They  consisted  of 
twenty  Sermons,  four  Discourses  in  English  upon 

d  At  the  end  of  the  same  pamphlet  was  printed  what  was  con 
sidered  to  be  an  original  and  unpublished  letter  of  bishop  Bull, 
from  the  archiepiscopal  library  at  Lambeth,  N°.  934.  article  71, 
endorsed,  '•'  Copy,  Mr.  Archdeacon  Bull's  Lr.  Jan.  1705."  But 
it  is  evident,  by  an  inspection  of  the  letter,  that  it  was  not  written 
by  bishop  Bull,  but  by  his  son,  who  was  made  archdeacon  when 
his  father  was  elected  bishop  in  1705,  and  the  date  of  this  letter 
should  be  i 70^,  i.  e.  i  706. 


vi  PREFACE. 

different  subjects,  and  a  fifth  Discourse  written  in 
Latin,  entitled,  Breves  Animadversiones  in  Trac- 
tatum  Gilbert!  Clerke,  of  which  there  is  also  an 
English  translation,  apparently  made  by  Nelson. 
The  work  had  a  rapid  sale,  and  a  second  edition  of 
the  Life  was  published  in  1714.  All  the  four  vor 
lumes  may  be  found  with  title-pages  of  this  date ; 
but  upon  inspection  it  will  appear,  that  the  volume 
containing  the  Life  was  the  only  one  which  was  re 
printed e.  Some  few  alterations  were  made  in  the 
second  edition.  A  difference  will  be  found  at  p.  53; 
but  as  far  as  p.  406.  the  two  editions  were  made  ex 
actly  to  correspond  in  their  pages  ;  in  this  place  there 
is  a  slight  alteration  about  the  burial  of  Dr.  Grabe, 
and  from  hence  to  the  end  the  paging  is  different. 
This  edition  was  reprinted  at  Oxford  by  Baxter,  in 
1816,  in  three  volumes  8vo. ;  but  the  editor  appears 
not  to  have  been  aware  that  the  Life  of  Bull  had 
been  published  in  1714  as  well  as  in  1713,  and  he 
printed  from  the  latter  ;  consequently  the  alterations, 
which  had  been  introduced  in  the  second  edition, 
are  not  found  in  the  reprint  made  at  Oxford f. 

e  I  have  seen  notice  in  London  Catalogues  of  the  works  of 
Bull  in  three  volumes  1719,  and  in  two  volumes  1725.  If  there 
is  no  mistake  in  these  dates,  the  former  copy  had  probably  only  a 
new  title-page  :  but  the  mention  of  two  volumes  is  unquestionably 
wrong.  All  the  three  volumes  of  Nelson's  edition  were  paged 
throughout,  and  could  not  be  separated. 

f  Copious  extracts  from  Nelson's  Life  of  Bull  have  been 
printed  by  the  bishop  of  Salisbury  in  the  work  already  mentioned, 
page  v. 


PREFACE. 


vn 


In  1714  a  volume  in  small  8vo.  was  published  in 
London,  entitled,  A  Companion  for  the  Candidates 
of  Holy  Orders  ;  or,  the  great  Importance  and 
principal  Duties  of  the  priestly  Office  ;  the  contents 
of  which  were  a  Visitation  Sermon  by  bishop  Bulk, 
together  with  his  Charge  to  his  Dioceseh,  and  his 
Circular  Letter  to  the  Clergy '.  This  volume  pro 
bably  was  not  in  such  great  demand  as  was  ex 
pected  ;  for  I  have  seen  a  book  bearing  date  1715, 
and  entitled,  The  Archbishop  of  Cambray's  pastoral 
Letter,  concerning  the  Love  of  God,  together  with 
the  Opinions  of  the  Fathers  on  the  same  Subject : 
to  which  is  added  a  circular  Letter  by  George 
Bull,  D.  D.,  late  Lord  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  his 
Visitation  Sermon,  and  his  Charge  to  his  Diocese; 
published  by  Robert  Nelson,  Esq.  These  tracts  of 
bishop  Bull  are  the  same  which  compose  the  Com 
panion  for  the  Candidates  of  Holy  Orders ;  and 
they  were  not  reprinted  in  1715,  but  the  identical 
book,  which  had  been  published  separately  in  1714, 
was  now  bound  up  with  the  archbishop  of  Cambray's 
Letter;  and  we  learn  from  the  title-page  of  the 
latter  work  that  Nelson  was  the  editor.  These 
three  tracts  of  bishop  Bull  have  been  printed  several 
times  in  Oxford  at  the  Clarendon  press,  in  The 
Clergyman's  Instructor. 

S  Published  in  vol.  I.  p.  137.  of  this  edition. 
h  Published  in  vol.  II.  p.  17. 
'  Published  in  the  Life,  p.  377. 


via  PREFACE, 

In  1719  Robert  Bull,  son  of  the  bishop,  published 
at  London  in  one  volume  8vo.  A  Vindication  of  the 
Church  of  England  from  the  Errors  and  Corrup 
tions  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  This  treatise  was 
written  by  his  father,  and  found  by  accident,  as 
stated  in  the  preface k.  Some  copies  of  it  may  be 
seen  with  the  date  of  1724  ;  but  they  evidently  be 
long  to  the  same  edition,  and  the  only  real  alteration 
was  a  new  title-page. 

In  1721,  the  folio  volume,  which  Grabe  had  edited, 
containing  the  Latin  works  of  Bull,  was  reprinted 
at  London,  by  Bowyer,  in  rather  a  smaller  size. 
The  Latin  tract  against  G.  Clerke,  which  had  been 
first  published  by  Nelson  in  1713,  was  introduced 
into  this  edition. 

The  second  and  third  Sermons  were  published  in 
1765  by  Leonard  Chappellow,  B.  D.  (See  vol.  I. 
p.  82.  of  this  edition.) 

It  may  be  added,  that  some  of  the  bishop's  Latin 
works  have  been  translated  into  English.  I  have 
already  mentioned,  that  the  tract  against  G.  Clerke 
was  translated  by  Nelson,  and  published  by  him  in 
English  as  well  as  Latin  in  1713. 

In  1725,  the  three  treatises  concerning  the  Tri 
nity,  which  were  published  by  Grabe  in  his  folio 
volume,  were  translated  by  the  rev.  Francis  Holland 
in  two  volumes  8vo. ;  and  either  a  new  edition,  or 

k  See  Life  of  Bull,  p.  66. 


PREFACE.  ix 

(what  is  more  probable)  a  new  title-page  was  put 
forth  in  1730. 

In  1801  the  Harmonia  Apostolica  was  translated 
by  Wilkinson ;  and  the  book  bore  the  title  of  Har 
monia  Apostolica,  or  the  Agreement  of  Paul  and 
James. 

In  1825  a  translation  of  the  Judicium  Ecclesice 
Catholicce  was  published  by  the  rev.  T.  Ran  kin  in 
one  volume,  8vo.  London. 

These  are  all  the  publications  of  bishop  Bull's 
works  which  I  have  been  able  to  meet  with,  or  of 
which  I  have  seen  any  account ;  and  the  object  of 
the  present  edition  is  to  bring  together  all  his  ori 
ginal  works  which  have  ever  appeared.  It  will  have 
been  observed  from  the  statement  given  above,  that 
this  has  never  yet  been  done.  Bowyer's  reprint  of 
Grabe's  edition  contains  all  the  Latin  treatises ;  and 
the  collection  of  the  English  Works,  made  by  Nel 
son,  is  the  only  one  which  has  yet  been  undertaken ; 
but  Nelson  did  not  print  the  Corruptions  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  he  had  not  seen  the  Vindi 
cation  of  the  Church  of  England.  Both  these 
treatises  will  be  found  in  the  present  edition. 

The  elaborate  Life  of  Bull,  written  by  Nelson, 
has  also  been  reprinted,  and  forms  a  separate  vo 
lume.  I  have  added  whatever  additional  notices 
could  be  found  concerning  the  bishop ',  but  I  have 

1  The  principal  additions  consist  of  some  extracts  from  the 
Life  of  John  Roberts,  a  quaker,  p.  69,  £c.,  and  an  original  letter 


x  PREFACE. 

nowhere  altered  the  words  of  Nelson,  or  corrected 
his  statements.  Whatever  new  matter  is  introduced, 
will  be  found  in  the  notes  inclosed  in  brackets  [  ] ; 
and  throughout  the  whole  of  this  edition  the  plan 
has  been  followed  of  marking  every  additional  anno 
tation  in  this  manner.  At  the  end  of  the  Life  I 
have  added  an  Index  of  the  principal  persons  and 
things  therein  mentioned ;  to  which  I  have  prefixed 
in  one  page  a  list  of  the  most  important  events  in 
the  bishop's  life,  marking  the  year  in  which  they 
happened,  and  the  page  in  which  they  are  men 
tioned. 

Every  thing  that  Nelson  published  in  his  three 
volumes  will  be  found  in  the  first  two  volumes  of 
this  edition,  excepting  the  fourth  Discourse,  which 
contains  the  tract  against  G.  Clerke.  This  being 
written  in  Latin,  is  placed  at  the  end  of  the  Latin 
works m;  and  though  the  next  and  last  Discourse 
thus  becomes  the  fourth  in  the  present  edition,  it  is 
still  called  the  fifth,  as  it  was  in  Nelson's  arrange 
ment.  It  not  being  my  intention  to  publish  any 
translations  of  the  original  writings,  I  have  omitted 
Nelson's  English  version  of  the  fourth  Discourse 
altogether.  The  first  volume  contains  the  twenty 
Sermons:  the  second  volume  contains  the  four 

from  Bull  to  Nelson,  p.  326.  which  is  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum. 

m  Bowyer  has  preceded  me  in  this  arrangement ;  but  he  gave 
the  second  place  to  the  tract  against  G.  Clerke,  for  which  there 
seems  no  reason :  I  have  printed  it  last  of  all. 


PREFACE.  xi 

Discourses,  the  Vindication  of  the  Church  of  Eng 
land,  and  the  Corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

The  four  last  volumes,  i.  e.  the  third,  fourth,  fifth, 
and  sixth,  contain  the  Latin  works.  A  different  or 
der  has  been  observed  from  that  which  was  adopted 
by  Grabe.  He  gave  the  first  place  to  the  three 
works  upon  the  Trinity,  probably  as  thinking  them 
of  higher  importance  than  the  Harmonia  Apostolica, 
&c.  But  since  it  is  always  desirable  to  preserve  a 
chronological  order  in  editing  an  author's  works,  I 
have  exactly  reversed  this  arrangement.  The  third 
and  fourth  volumes  contain  the  Harmonia  Aposto- 
lica,  and  the  two  works  connected  with  it,  the  Ex- 
amen  Censurce  and  Apologia ;  the  fifth  and  sixth 
volumes  contain  the  treatises  upon  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity.  The  Defensio  Fidei  Niccence  occupies 
the  whole  of  the  fifth  volume n ;  the  Judicium 
Ecclesice  Catholics,  the  Primitiva  et  Apostolica 
Traditio,  and  the  tract  against  G.  Clerke,  occupy 
the  sixth. 

In  printing  the  Sermons  and  Discourses,  I  care- 

n  This  volume  consists  of  813  pages;  and  if  the  thickness  of 
it  should  be  thought  inconvenient,  it  may  easily  be  divided  into 
two :  the  first  part  would  contain  the  first  and  second  sections  of 
the  work,  making  a  volume  of  472  pages ;  the  second  part  would 
contain  the  third  and  fourth  sections,  making  a  volume  of  341 
pages.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  the  works  of  bishop  Bull  do  not 
admit  of  being  divided  into  volumes  of  a  more  uniform  size  ;  but 
it  has  been  thought,  that  the  inconvenience  of  having  part  of  a 
treatise  in  one  volume,  and  part  in  another,  would  be  much  greater 
than  that  of  having  the  volumes  of  unequal  size. 


xii  PREFACE. 

fully  collated  the  sheets,  as  they  passed  through  the 
press,  with  the  original  edition  published  by  Nelson ; 
by  which  means  some  errors  have  been  removed, 
which  were  introduced  into  the  Oxford  edition  of 
1816.  The  work  entitled  Corruptions  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  as  stated  above,  has  been  reprinted  several 
times ;  but  upon  comparing  the  later  editions  with 
the  first  and  authentic  one  published  by  Hickes  in 
1705,  several  alterations  and  mistakes  will  be  dis 
covered.  I  have  followed  the  first  edition  implicitly, 
except  where  the  references  were  manifestly  wrong. 
The  Vindication  of  the  Church  of  England  had  only 
been  printed  once  before :  I  could  therefore  only 
copy  that  edition,  which  in  some  places  appears  to 
be  inaccurate ;  and  the  original  work  was  evidently 
written  by  the  bishop  in  a  hasty  and  careless  man 
ner.  At  the  end  of  the  second  volume  an  Index  will 
be  found  of  the  principal  matters  referred  to  in  the 
first  two  volumes.  Nelson  published  an  index  to 
the  English  works  edited  by  himself,  the  substance 
of  which  will  be  found  in  the  present  one ;  but  the 
reader,  who  compares  the  two,  will  find  that  which 
is  now  printed  to  be  much  more  full,  and  to  embrace 
many  more  subjects,  though  the  separate  articles 
may  be  expressed  in  fewer  words.  It  also  comprises 
the  two  treatises  which  Nelson  did  not  publish  ;  and 
I  have  added  a  list  of  the  texts  of  Scripture  referred 
to  or  explained  in  the  two  volumes  of  the  English 
works. 


PREFACE.  X11i 

In  printing  the  Latin  works,  I  made  use  of  the 
folio  edition  published  by  J.  E.  Grabe  in  1703  ;  but  as 
the  sheets  passed  through  the  press,  I  collated  them 
with  the  original  editions,  which  had  been  published 
separately  by  Bull.  No  person,  who  is  without  ex 
perience  in  these  matters,  could  imagine  the  nume 
rous  corrections,  which  it  thus  became  requisite 
to  make.  The  Harmonia  Apostolica  published  by 
Bull  in  1670  is  perhaps  the  most  scandalously 
printed  book  that  ever  issued  from  the  press;  and 
in  a  notice  to  the  reader  at  the  end  he  himself  de 
plores  the  portenta  typographic^,  which  had  been 
caused  by  his  not  being  able  to  correct  the  sheets 
himself.  Grabe  evidently  took  great  pains  in  pre 
paring  his  own  edition;  and  it  may  be  said  with 
truth,  that  he  had  to  alter  the  text  or  the  pointing 
in  some  hundreds  of  places.  The  MS.  sent  by  Bull 
to  the  press  was  probably  not  without  some  serious 
faults  °.  Grammatical  errors  occasionally  occur,  which 
could  hardly  have  been  introduced  by  the  printer; 
and  these  in  almost  every  instance  have  been  tacitly 
corrected  by  Grabe.  There  are  cases,  however,  in 
which  he  altered  Bull's  Latinity  without  any  suffi 
cient  reason.  The  indicative  is  frequently  put  for 
the  subjunctive,  and  the  subjunctive  for  the  indica- 

°  In  the  postscript  to  the  reader,  at  p.  315,  of  vol.  III.  and  in 
the  preface  to  the  Examen  Censurae,  vol.  IV.  p.  iv.  Bull  speaks 
of  his  handwriting,  when  he  was  in  a  hurry,  being-  extremely  bad, 
and  almost  illegible  to  himself. 


xiv  PREFACE. 

tive,  where  either  might  be  allowed  to  stand.  Bull 
was  in  the  habit  of  writing  priori  and  posteriori  in 
the  ablative,  which  Grabe  altered  to  prior e  and  pos- 
teriore.  In  the  same  manner  he  changed  analysim, 
hypothesim,  hteresim,  &c.,  into  analysin,  hypothesin, 
haresin,  &c. ;  and  where  Bull  wrote  non  miJii  latet, 
Grabe  substituted  the  more  usual  form  non  me  latet. 
Many  more  instances  of  this  kind  might  be  given, 
in  which  it  cannot  be  said,  that  Grabe  discharged 
the  office  of  a  faithful  editor.  It  may  be  indifferent 
which  form  of  construction  or  of  spelling  we  adopt, 
or  Grabe's  method  may  have  been  the  best :  but 
if  we  wish  to  know  what  rule  was  followed  by 
writers  of  Latin  at  any  particular  period,  and  if 
the  authority  of  bishop  Bull  is  to  be  quoted,  it  is 
evident,  that  we  must  consult  his  original  editions, 
and  not  the  reprints  which  have  been  altered  and 
corrected.  In  these  cases,  and  wherever  the  original 
edition  was  not  grammatically  wrong,  I  have  wished 
to  restore  Bull's  own  words ;  and  by  collating  the 
two  editions  together,  I  venture  to  hope,  that  the 
work  is  now  published  much  more  accurately  than 
it  was  by  Grabe  P. 


P  In  some  instances  I  am  afraid  that  I  have  been  misled  by 
Grabe,  and  too  hastily  adopted  his  alterations.  Thus  in  the  preface 
to  the  Harmonia  Apostolica,  p.  viii.  line  i  o.  and  in  the  Examen 
Censuree,  p.  73,  line  15,  Bull  coupled  antidotum  with  a  feminine 
adjective.  Grabe  altered  the  adjective  to  the  neuter  ;  and  so  it  is 
printed  in  the  present  edition.  But  I  have  since  observed,  that 


PREFACE.  xv 

The  corrections  which  I  have  made,  by  consulting 
the  first  edition  of  the  Harmonia  Apostolica,  are  much 
too  numerous  to  specify ;  but  as  an  instance  of  the 
use  of  this  collation,  I  would  refer  the  reader  to 
vol.  III.  p.  216.  line  24,  where  the  words  ante  ct  citra 
omnem  vocalioncm  divinam  were  omitted  by  Grabe ; 
and  as  an  instance,  where  one  or  two  letters  may 
make  a  difference  in  the  meaning,  I  would  refer  to 
p.  271,  line  9,  where  instead  of  faciliora,  Grabe's 
edition  \\asfacilia. 

Grabe  added  Annotations  of  his  own  at  the  end  of 
some  of  the  chapters.  These  are  not  always  of  much 
importance ;  and  his  Latin  style  was  much  less  easy 
and  perspicuous  than  that  of  Bull.  They  are  printed 
in  the  present  edition,  and  in  a  smaller  type  than 
the  work  itself.  I  have  also  preserved  all  the  notes, 
which  Grabe  added  in  the  margin  or  at  the  bottom 
of  the  page  of  his  own  edition,  marking  them  with 
his  own  name,  that  they  may  be  distinguished  from 
those  of  the  bishop.  Grabe  omitted  to  make  this 
distinction.  At  the  end  of  the  volume  he  published 
an  Index  of  the  principal  matters  referred  to,  and 
also  a  list  of  the  texts  of  Scripture  which  are  quoted. 
Instead  of  reprinting  this  Index,  I  have  constructed 

writers  of  Bull's  day  considered  the  nominative  to  be  antidotus 
(feminine)  not  antidotum.  It  is  so  used  by  Bacon  (de  Augm. 
Scient.  in  init.)  and  there  are  ancient  authorities  for  it.  Bull 
himself  wrote  antidotus  in  his  Judicium  Eccl.  Cathol.  p.  158,  of 
this  edition,  which  was  altered  by  Grabe  to  antidotum. 


xvi  PREFACE. 

a  new  one,  which  I  trust  will  be  found  more  conve 
nient,  as  well  as  more  complete.     Grabe  noted  the 
contents  of  all  the  Latin  works  in  one  Index  ;  but 
I  have  thought  it  better  to  separate  the    treatises 
upon  Justification  from   those  upon  the  Trinity  :  I 
have    therefore    placed    an    Index    at    the    end    of 
the  fourth  volume,  which   refers  to  the  Harmonia 
Apostolica,   Examen    Censure?,,    and   Apologia ;    and 
another   at    the    end   of   the    sixth    volume,    which 
refers  to  all  the  works  concerning  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity.     Having  made  my  own  Index,  I  com 
pared  it  with  that  of  Grabe,  and  introduced  what 
ever    I    had    omitted,    except    where    the    matter 
appeared   not  to  require  such   notice.     The  list  of 
texts  referred  to  in  these  volumes  will  also  be  found 
more  complete.     Since  Grabe's  folio  edition  is  that 
which  is  in  most  general  use,  and  to  which  reference 
is  most  frequently  made  by  writers  who  have  alluded 
to  Bull's  works,  I  have  preserved  in  the  margin  of 
this  edition  the  numbers  of  the  pages  as  they  stood 
in  Grabe's  edition. 

The  Examen  Censurce  and  Apologia  were  printed 
almost  as  inaccurately  in  the  first  edition  as  the 
Harmonia  Apostolica  ;  and  Grabe  appears  to  have 
become  still  more  bold  in  altering  the  text  according 
to  his  own  fancy.  He  has  also  omitted  not  a  few 
words  which  are  material  to  the  sense.  Some  notion 
may  be  formed  of  the  arbitrary  changes,  which  he 
introduced,  by  the  following  specimen  : 


PREFACE.  xvii 

List  of  words  altered  by  Grabe  in  the  Ed-amen 
Censure?  and  Apologia. 

P.  5.  1.  6.  huic  ausui       altered  to  hoc  ausu 

1 6.  14.  disseruissem   disserui 

27.  17.  pronuntiaverit    pronuntiavit 

56.  12.  authoris  sui    authori  suo 

78.  17.  apiscatur    adipiscatur 

85-  19-  opoyeves opoytvovs 

135-  31-  P°tes  erunt    poterunt 

143.  17.  descripserim descripsi 

150.  7.  insistere      ingredi 

203.  15.  disputatione    dissertatione 

216.  3.  lectoris doctoris 

234.  24.  instituatur institutus  sit 

267.  2  i .  erant fuerint 

467.  3.  meo    mea 

The  above  list  contains  a  very  small  proportion  of 
the  words  and  phrases  altered  by, Grabe.  They  occur 
in  almost  every  page.  The  words  which  he  has 
omitted  are  also  numerous,  as  may  be  seen  by  the 
following  specimen. 

Words  omitted  by  Grabe  in  the  Ex  amen  Censura 
and  Apologia. 

P.  7.    1.  24.  meum 

9.  5.  fidem 

27.  25.  divinum 

44.  25.  omni 

66.         7.  peccatoris 

75.  1 6.  evangelicse 

122.  4.  illius 

163.  1 6.  si  eodem  plane  modo 

290.  15.  articuli 
330.         9.  est  omnis 

454-  5-  serio 

BULL,  LIFE.  b 


xviii  PREFACE. 

In  these  instances  we  might  be  inclined  to  accuse 
Grabe  of  carelessness  ;  but  whoever  consults  the 
original  edition,  and  observes  how  much  we  are 
indebted  to  him  for  purifying  the  text,  will  make 
great  allowances  for  these  omissions.  In  the  same 
manner  we  must  excuse  his  not  having  always 
attended  to  the  corrections  which  were  pointed 
out  by  Bull  himself  in  the  table  of  errata.  Thus 
at  p.  53,  line  19,  Grabe  printed  Animadvers.  IV. 
though  the  table  of  errata  states  that  IV.  should 
be  altered  to  III.  So  also  at  p.  174,  line  1,  we 
are  directed  to  alter  quintum  to  septum,  but  Grabe 
suffered  quintum  to  remain.  At  p.  178,  line  7,  the 
word  liberamur  is  essential  to  the  passage,  and  though 
it  was  omitted  in  the  original  edition,  the  omission 
is  noted  among  the  errata.  Grabe,  however,  neg 
lected  to  supply  it.  At  p.  330,  line  29,  the  word 
contumelia  wras  omitted,  and  the  mistake  is  cor 
rected  among  the  errata ;  Grabe,  however,  intro 
duced  injuria  instead  of  contumelia.  A  similar  in 
stance  of  carelessness  occurs  at  p.  426,  line  22,  where 
Grabe  has  followed  the  original  edition  in  omitting 
the  word  vi.verunt,  though  it  is  supplied  in  the  table 
of  errata.  But  the  most  extraordinary  instance  of 
inadvertence  occurs  at  p.  363,  line  14,  where  are  the 
words  "  Diss.  Post.  XVIII.  9."  Bull  had  only  printed 
"  Diss.  Post.  cap.  XVIII."  and  in  the  table  of  errata 
we  find  "  Post.  cap.  XVIII.  ad  :  parag.  9."  the 
meaning  of  which  is  very  plain  ;  but  Grabe  took  ad 


PREFACE.  xix 

for  the  preposition,  and  actually  printed  "  Diss.  Post. 
"  cap.  XVIII.  ad  paragraph.  9."  It  may  be  men 
tioned  also,  that  at  p.  175  Bull  quotes  a  passage  from 
his  Harmonia  Apostolica,  and  in  his  own  edition  he 
misplaced  the  words  Jacobo  and  Paulo  in  lines  17 
and  19,  by  which  means  the  sense  of  the  passage  is 
destroyed.  Grabe  did  not  observe  the  transposition, 
and  suffered  it  to  remain. 

The  Defensio  Fidei  Nic&nce  was  printed  at  the 
Sheldonian  press  in  Oxford,  and,  as  might  be  ex 
pected,  is  greatly  superior  in  correctness  to  the  two 
former  volumes,  which  had  been  published  in  Lon 
don.  It  may  be  pronounced,  upon  the  whole,  to  be 
not  an  inelegant  specimen  of  typography,  though 
the  errata  are  much  more  numerous  than  would  be 
found  in  any  book  which  issued  from  the  university 
press  in  these  days.  The  bishop  laments  this  fact 
in  his  preface,  and  partly  explains  the  cause  by  in 
forming  us  that  he  was  not  personally  present  to 
superintend  the  printing,  and  that  he  only  corrected 
the  last  sheet.  It  may  be  observed,  however,  that 
the  peculiarities  of  the  bishop's  expressions,  and  of 
his  Latin  style,  are  not  so  perceptible  in  the  works 
which  he  published  at  Oxford,  as  in  those  which 
were  printed  so  inaccurately  in  London.  In  the 
latter  place  the  printers  might  mistake  his  hand 
writing,  and  introduce  numerous  errata;  but  to 
alter  his  Latinity,  and  substitute  common  for  un 
common  phrases,  greatly  exceeded  their  powers.  It 

b  2 


xx  PREFACE. 

is  evident  that  these  alterations  were  made  by  the 
Oxford  printers.  In  the  Harmonia  Apostolica  and 
Examen  Censure  his  orthography  and  phraseology 
were  uniform  ;  in  the  Defensio  we  occasionally  meet 
with  the  same  peculiarities,  but  in  most  cases  they 
have  been  corrected  fl.  Grabe  took  the  liberty  of 
changing  Bull's  expressions  in  a  great  variety  of 
instances.  The  following  are  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  alterations  : 

P.  35.  1.  13.  attenti  quietique  altered  to  attente  quieteque 

101.  \6.  illud  altered  to  aliud 

no.  i  o.  op.oov<Ti(t>v  altered  to  O^OOVO-LOV 

J49-  28.  jam  altered  to  jam  jam 

167.  30.  quemadmodum  altered  to  uti 

214.  22.  antiquissimus  altered  to  antiquus 

259.  10.  yevvrfTos  KCU  aytWrjro?  altered  to    yei^ros  KCU 


309.      25.  ut  altered  to  quam 

320.  4.  discidium  altered  to  dissidium.      So   also    at 

p.  681.  1.  22. 

321.  4.  apud  ipsum  vel  pro  subsistentia  vel  pro  re 

singular!  altered  to  apud  ipsum  pro  subsist 
entia,  i.  e.  pro  re  singular! 

4  The  bishop,  as  observed  above,  wrote  hceresim,  hypostasim, 
&c  ,  and  we  find  the  words  printed  thus  in  the  former  part  of  the 
volume  ;  but  toward  the  end  they  are  changed  to  heeresin,  hypo- 
stasin,  &c.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  using  a  dative  case  after 
inferior,  and  so  we  find  it  in  a  few  cases  in  this  volume  ;  but 
much  more  frequently  the  ablative  has  been  substituted.  The 
MS.  of  the  answer  to  G.  Clerke,  which  is  preserved  in  the  Bod 
leian,  and  which  was  written  not  long  before  the  bishop's  death, 
proves  that  he  had  not  himself  altered  his  Latin  style,  but  that 
these  liberties  were  taken  with  his  composition  at  the  university 
press. 


PREFACE.  xxi 

P.  407.  1.  25.  tertium,    ultimum,    cavillum,    expediendum, 
altered  to   tertius,    ultiinus,    eavillus,    expe- 
diendus 
464.      26.  Se  altered  to  sod. — Sic  is  inserted  after  prce- 

varicationem 

519.        6.  renitentibus  altered  to  retinentibus 
541.       15.  in  responsionibus  ad  Pauli  qusestiones  Epi- 
stolie  subjectis  altered  to  in  responsione  ad 
Pauli  qusestiones  Epistoke  subjectas 
640.       17.  qui  altered  to  quse 

696.        4.  nisi    si 

6.  excipit   accipit 

706.      30.  ad  Tryphonera  altered  to  cum  Tryphone 
728.        4.  Zenonis  altered  to  Zenoni 

785.        9.  divisa     divisas 

I  have  taken  no  notice  of  the  many  instances  in 
which  the  tenses  have  been  altered,  and  the  list 
might  have  been  greatly  increased  by  other  exam 
ples.  It  may  be  mentioned  also,  that  at  p.  656, 
line  24,  Bull  by  mistake  wrote  Valentinianos  for 
Prctcuean,  which  was  not  corrected  by  Grabe ;  but 
a  list  of  the  words  which  Grabe  omitted  will  afford 
the  strongest  proof  of  his  inaccuracy  as  an  editor. 
List  of  words  omitted  by  Grabe  in  the  Defemio 

Fidci  Niccencc. 
P.  35. 1.  10.  illud,  Ubi  es  ? 
71.     2  j .  et 
i 16.       5.  et 
214.     penult.  Cypriani 
227.     24.  ipso 

244.  2.  persona 

245.  7.  omniumque 
256.       6.  obscuri 
295.     26.  Dei 

327.     19.  sic 


xxii  PREFACE. 


-  17-  non 

424.  note111,  quicquam 

566.  1.  5.  est  after  aliquo 

604.     1  8.  Filius 

6  12.     penult,  absurd! 

620.     13.  suo 

710.     25.  nonnullis 

722.       7.  mine 

724.       9.  mox 

765.       5.  Deo 

798.     25.  ad 

804.     24.  germana 

8c6.  6.  so  contulisse  ;  atque  ab  ipsis,  se  quoque  ca- 
tholicos 

The  Judicium  Ecclesice  Catholicce  was  also  print 
ed  at  the  Sheldonian  press  in  Oxford  ;  and  is  a  bet 
ter  specimen  of  typography  than  the  Defensio  ;  the 
errors  are  fewer,  and  Grabe  has  been  rather  more 
sparing  in  his  alterations.  lie  has  however  omitted 
some  words  of  importance,  and  altered  others  with 
out  any  reason  ;  as  the  following  list  will  shew. 

Words  altered  by  Grabe  in  the  Judicium  Ecclesice 

Catholica. 

P.  15.  1.  26.  horn  in  em    altered  to    homines 
39.       4.  transfigere  ............  transfixisse 

1  8.  qui  .....................  quod 

5  2  .     25.  sileant  ..................  sileam 

56.       2.  quod    ..................  quoniam 

59.       6.  ut     .....................  quod 

87.       4.  catechetis     ............  cateehetse 

114.       4.  Christus   ...............    Christi 

6.  quia  .....................   quod 

158.     32.  antidotus  ...............  antidotum 

199.       2.  poterat  ipsos    .........  potuisset  istos 

1  have  here  taken  little  or  no  notice  of  the  altera- 


PREFACE.  xxiii 

tion  of  moods  and  tenses,  of  which  many  instances 
might  be  given.  The  following  words  were  omitted 
by  Grabe,  but  have  been  restored  in  the  present 
edition  : 

P.  33.  1.  8.  ipsi  vero  credentcs,  legique 

—  ii.  putuin 
34.     14.  dum 
43.       2.  fuisse 

—  4.  demum 
219.       9.  puto 

It  has  been  mentioned  above,  that  the  tract  enti 
tled  Primitiva  et  Apostolica  Traditio,  Sfc.,  was 
printed  for  the  first  time  by  Grabe  in  his  folio  edi 
tion  ;  so  that  we  cannot  ascertain  what  alterations 
or  omissions  were  made  in  this  work  ;  and  not  hav 
ing  any  other  edition  to  compare  it  with,  I  have 
carefully  followed  that  which  was  printed  by  Grabe. 

It  has  been  mentioned  also,  that  the  tract  against 
Gilbert  Clerke,  which  forms  the  last  in  this  edition, 
was  first  printed  by  Nelson  in  1713,  and  was  after 
wards  added  by  Bowyer  in  his  reprint  of  Grabe's 
edition  in  1721.  The  original  MS.  (alluded  to  by 
Nelson,  Life,  p.  426.)  is  in  the  collection  of  Grabe's 
papers  now  preserved  in  the  Bodleian  library.  At 
the  end  there  is  a  small  part  of  it  in  the  bishop's 
own  handwriting  a.  I  have  collated  the  MS.  as  ac 
curately  as  I  could,  both  before  the  sheets  were 
printed,  and  as  they  passed  through  the  press ;  by 

il  This  begins  at  the  28th  section,  page  404  of  this  edition,  and 
continues  to  the  end. 


xxiv  PREFACE. 

which  means  I  have  been  able  to  restore  some  read 
ings  which  were  altered.  I  have  also  consulted  the 
work  entitled  Antenicenismus,  written  by  Clerke, 
to  which  this  tract  was  intended  as  an  answer;  and 
I  have  thus  been  able  to  correct  some  of  the  quo 
tations  which  Bull  transcribed  hastily,  and  which 
Nelson  does  not  appear  to  have  verified  with  the 
original  work.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  inac 
curacies  which  appear  in  Nelson's  edition : 

P.  368.  1.28.  cum         Nelson  printed  turn 

369.  4.  confiteatur confiteantur 

8.  hsec    hac 

370.  4.  quidem  quidam 

29.  quern quam 

371.  T  2.  magistro     raagis 

374.       8 .  quamque    quamquam 

376.        9.  verba verbo 

—  27.  respectu    non    personse    sed    Nelson   printed 

respectu  personse  non 
389.      18.  paternse  Nelson  printed  paterna. 

393-       5.  gentes    gentiles 

396.      26.  quam quern 

—  28.  hujus  nodi hujusmodi 

398.  14.  invisibilitatem    indivisibilitatem. 

399.  30.  viris    veris 

404.      26.  geminis  genuinis 

ult.  itidein     ibidem 

406.      12.  omnino  is  omitted 

408.       6.  Hine  Nelson  printed  Hinc. 

In  this  list  I  have  not  taken  notice  of  errors  which 
are  merely  typographical,  and  of  which  there  are  not 
a  few.  I  have  divided  the  tract  into  sections  for  the 
convenience  of  reference.  In  the  original  MS.  there 


PREFACE.  xxv 

are  no  such  sections  marked  ;  but  the  paragraphs  are 
divided  exactly  as  they  are  printed  in  this  edition, 
and  nothing  has  been  added  but  the  numbers. 

When  Bowyer  reprinted  Grabe's  edition  in  1721, 
he  added  a  few  notes,  principally  to  state  the  period 
in  which  each  of  the  Fathers  lived  or  their  works 
were  published.  Nothing  is  said  by  him  concerning 
the  author  of  these  notes ;  indeed  they  are  almost 
exclusively  taken  from  Cave.  I  have  printed  them 
all  in  this  edition,  marking  them  with  the  name  of 
Bowyer. 

The  principal  object  which  I  have  had  in  view, 
and  it  is  that  which  has  caused  by  far  the  greatest 
portion  of  labour,  was  to  verify  the  quotations  and 
references  made  by  Bull.  The  bishop  appears  in 
almost  every  instance  to  have  consulted  the  best 
editions  of  the  Fathers  which  were  extant  in  his 
days.  But  I  need  not  observe,  that  since  that  time 
there  have  been  better  editions  of  nearly  all  the 
Fathers.  With  the  exception  of  Arnobius,  the  two 
Cyrils,  Methodius,  Photius,  Theodoret,  and  per 
haps  one  or  two  more,  there  are  none  which  the 
Benedictine  editors  or  others  have  not  enabled  us  to 
read  in  a  much  more  correct  and  perfect  form.  In 
every  instance  it  has  been  my  intention  to  consult 
the  original  passage  as  quoted  by  Bull,  and  to  add 
the  reference  to  the  best  edition.  It  is  plain  that 
Bull  very  often  made  mistakes  in  transcribing  pas 
sages  ;  and  what  person,  who  undertook  such  an 


xxvi  PREFACE. 

Herculean  task,  would  not  do  the  same?  We  know 
also,  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  Oxford 
annually  to  consult  the  libraries  there5.  Upon  these 
occasions  he  probably  made  large  extracts  from 
those  works,  which  his  own  limited  income  did  not 
allow  him  to  possess;  so  that  when  he  wrote  out 
his  works  for  the  press,  instead  of  being  able  to 
verify  his  quotations  with  the  printed  copy,  they 
were  in  fact  a  transcript  from  a  transcript.  His 
own  handwriting  also,  as  has  been  already  observed, 
was  extremely  bad ;  so  that  upon  the  whole  we 
need  not  be  surprised  to  find  several  mistakes  in  his 
quotations. 

The  plan  which  I  have  followed  in  correcting  the 
quotations  is  this :  Whenever  the  mistake  is  obvi 
ously  one  of  inattention,  or  where  a  reading,  which 
is  indisputably  the  true  one,  has  been  printed  in  a 
later  edition,  I  have  made  the  correction  without 
noticing  it.  These  instances  indeed  are  so  nume 
rous,  that  to  mention  them  all  would  be  endless  as 
well  as  unnecessary.  But  when  Bull  was  likely  to 
have  known  of  two  or  more  readings,  and  adopted 
one  of  them,  or  where  the  reading  of  later  editors  is 
only  a  matter  of  conjecture  or  of  judgment,  I  have 
not  altered  Bull's  quotation  of  the  passage,  but  have 
stated  the  different  reading  in  a  note.  It  has  been 
my  endeavour  to  verify  all  his  quotations,  not  only 
from  the  works  of  the  Fathers,  but  from  every  other 
s  Life,  p.  36. 


John  Bull, 
Chaplain  t 
Henry  VI! 

Edward  V] 


Thomas  B 
died  S.  P. 


William  ij 
of  Shapwi 
Somerset, 
died  1676 

I 

Henry  Bull: 
died  1695. 


Eleanor  = 


I 

Bridge 

George 

Anne  =  Joseph                  C    born  M 

born  March 

born  1662. 

Stephens,         bori     2o,  i6£ 

24,  1659. 

died  1703. 

Archdeacon          i^         m. 

died  young. 

of  Brecon,         die<      Edwar 

died  1735. 

Adderlc 

Elizabeth  =Williar 
Walter 
of  Bris 

Jane  Gastrell  =  Joseph  Cha 
Rector  of  I 
bourn,  co.  < 
died  1795. 


John=Joyce  Richard       James,  D.  D. 

Whittaker.  died  1819.     Fellow  of 

S.  P.  Magd.  College. 


Joseph 
James 


Joanna 
Baptista. 


Mary,  daugfc 
of  William 
Hayward. 
died  1814.    ' 


Sarah  Anne 


jrker 

k 


Jol 


PREFACE.  xxvii 

writer  ancient  and  modern  ;  and  I  should  perhaps 
not  be  saying  too  much  when  I  state,  that  the  text, 
as  printed  by  Grabe,  has  been  corrected  for  the  pre 
sent  edition  in  some  hundred  instances;  which  T 
mention,  in  the  hope  that  persons  who  are  acquaint 
ed  with  this  sort  of  labour  will  make  excuse  for 
wrong  references,  and  other  inaccuracies,  which  may 
appear  in  this  edition. 

At  the  end  of  the  last  volume  will  be  found  a  list 
of  the  Fathers  and  other  writers  whose  works  are 
quoted  by  Bull.  I  have  added  the  year  in  which 
each  of  them  is  supposed  to  have  lived,  together 
with  the  latest  and  best  editions  of  their  works.  It 
has  been  my  intention  to  make  my  own  references 
in  every  instance  to  the  best  editions. 

Subsequent  to  the  printing  of  Nelson's  Life  of 
Bull  for  this  edition,  I  have  met  with  a  pedigree  of 
the  family  of  Bull  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  and 
have  received  another,  containing  some  additions, 
from  the  Heralds'  College.  They  begin  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII.  and  come  down  to  the  father  of  the 
bishop.  The  registers  of  Siddington  and  A  veiling 
have  supplied  the  names  of  the  bishop's  children, 
and  by  information  derived  from  his  present  de 
scendants,  I  have  been  able  to  bring  the  pedigree 
down  to  our  own  times. 

It  is  stated  by  Nelson,  (Life,  p.  407.)  that  the 
bishop  had  eleven  children ;  the  parish  registers  give 


xxviii  PREFACE. 

the  names  of  twelve,  as  is  seen  in  the  pedigree ;  and 
since  many  of  them  died  young,  the  omission  may 
easily  be  explained.  Nelson  also  states  that  only 
two  of  the  bishop's  children  survived  him ;  these 
were  Robert  and  Bridget.  The  pedigree  confirms 
the  death  of  all  the  others,  excepting  Richard,  of 
whom  I  am  not  able  to  give  any  account.  In  a  note 
at  p.  407,  I  have  quoted  Jones  the  historian  of 
Brecknockshire,  as  thinking  that  one  of  the  bishop's 
younger  sons  settled  at  Kington,  from  whom  the 
Bulls  of  Durfield  were  descended.  This  may  pro 
bably  have  been  Richard.  It  appears  from  the  re 
gister  at  Siddington,  that  Richard  Bull  was  buried 
there  Nov.  27, 1740;  but  whether  this  was  the  same 
Richard,  son  of  the  bishop,  must  remain  uncertain. 
It  also  appears  that  Arine  Bull  was  buried  at  Sid 
dington,  July  16,  1742 :  this  was  not  the  eldest 
daughter  of  the  bishop  ;  for  she  was  married  to  arch 
deacon  Stephens,  and  died  in  1703.  We  may  infer 
therefore,  that  some  of  the  bishop's  family  continued 
to  reside  at  Siddington  after  he  quitted  it. 

To  many  readers  these  minute  points  of  genea 
logical  discussion  may  have  little  interest ;  but  some 
of  those,  who  have  studied  and  admired  the  writings 
of  bishop  Bull,  will  perhaps  agree  in  thinking  that 
every  thing  connected  with  the  personal  history  of 
such  a  man  is  worth  preserving.  His  friend  and 
biographer  Nelson  has  left  little  to  be  collected  in 
this  way  by  any  succeeding  editor;  but  it  has  not 


PREFACE.  xxix 

perhaps  been  generally  known,  that  so  many  persons 
are  still  living  who  are  descended  from  this  great 
and  good  man ;  of  whom  it  may  be  truly  said,  that 
the  church  of  Christ  is  as  deeply  indebted  to  bishop 
Bull  for  the  lasting  monuments  of  his  learning  and 
his  zeal,  as  to  any  of  her  sons  who  have  defended 
her  from  the  open  or  secret  enemy,  and  traced  her 
unbroken  descent  from  those  pure  and  apostolical 
times  when  the  faith  was  once  delivered  to  the 

saints. 

E.  B. 

[1827.] 


THE    LIFE 

OF   GEORGE    BULL,  D.  D, 

LORD   BISHOP   OF   ST.  DAVID'S, 


THE    HISTORY    OF   THOSE   CONTROVERSIES  IN 
WHICH    HE   WAS   ENGAGED; 


AN    ABSTRACT    OF    THOSE    FUNDAMENTAL    DOCTRINES  WHICH  HE 
MAINTAINED    AND    DEFENDED    IN    THE    LATIN    TONGUE. 


BY  ROBERT  NELSON,  ESQ. 


CONTENTS. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

rPHE  occasion  of  writing  this  Life,  p.  i.  An  apology  for 
-*-    attempting  it,  p.  2.  His  reputation  secured  by  his  own 
works,  ibid.  Why  it  may  be  acceptable  to  learned  and 
good  men,  p.  3.  Reasons  for  the  length  of  it,  p.  4. 

I.  When  and  where  Mr.  Bull  was  born,  p.  5.  His  family 
and  parentage,  ibid.  Early  dedicated  to  the  service  of 
the  church,  p.  6. 

II.  Educated  at  Tiverton  school  in  Devonshire,  p.  7.  An 
account  and  character  of  his  master,  p.  8.  His  great  and 
early  progress  in  classic  learning,  p.  9. 

III.  Removed  to  Exeter  college  in  Oxford,  p.  9.  Taken  no 
tice  of  by  two  great  men,  p.  10.  Acquainted  with  Mr. 
Clifford,  afterwards  lord  high  treasurer,  p.  12. 

IV.  He  retires  from  Oxford,  upon  refusing  the  Engage 
ment,  p.  13.  He  goes  with  his  tutor,  Mr.  Ackland,   to 
North  Cadbury,  p.  14.  Influenced  to  great  seriousness  by 
a  sister,  p.  15. 

V.  He  puts  himself  under  the  conduct  of  an  eminent  di 
vine,  p.  15.  The  advantage  of  seminaries  for  the  candi 
dates  of  holy  orders,  p.  16.  The  fruit  to  be  reaped  from 
them,  p.  17.  He  is  put  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Tho 
mas,  p.  18.  He  contracts  a  friendship  with  Mr.  Thomas's 
son,  which  was  very  advantageous  to  him,  p.  20. 

BULL,   LIFE.  C 


xxxiv  CONTENTS. 

VI.  He  enters  into  holy  orders,  p.  21.  He  was  but  one  and 
twenty  when  ordained  priest,  p.  23.  This  forwardness  in 
such  times  an  argument  of  his  zeal,  p.  24. 

VII.  He  settles  at  St.  George's  near  Bristol,  p.  25.  A  little 
accident  which  contributed  to  his  reputation,  p.  26.  Dis 
turbed  in  his  sermon  by  a  quaker,  p.  27. 

VIII.  The  method  he  took  in  governing  his  parish,  p.  29. 
The  parish  infested  with  Antinomian  books,  p.  31.  The 
excellency  of  Mr.  Bull's  method,  p.  3 2. 

IX.  The  prayers  he  used  in  public,  p.  33.  An  instance  of 
the  Common  Prayer  being  admired  by  the  dissenters 
when  used  by  Mr.  Bull,  p.  34.    An  eminent  danger  he 
was  preserved  from,  p.  35.     He  goes  to  Oxford  once  a 
year,  for  the  use  of  libraries,  p.  36. 

X.  Mr,  Bull  marries  Mrs.  Bridget  Gregory,  p.  37.  her  cha 
racter,  p.  39. 

XI.  He  was  presented  to   Suddington  St.  Mary's,  p.  41. 
He  was  made  privy  to  the  design  of  a  general  insurrec 
tion  in  fifty-nine,  p.  42.  His  preaching  at  Cirencester, 
and  the  occasion  of  it,  p.  43. 

XII.  He  was  presented  to  the  vicarage  of  Suddington  St. 
Peter,  p.  44.  He  marries  a  couple  publicly  by  the  form 
of  Common  Prayer,  p.  46.  Reading  the  prayers  devoutly 
no  mean  attainment,  and   of  great  advantage  to  the 
people,  p.  47. 

XIII.  His  manner  of  preaching,  and  the  frequency  of  it, 
p.  48.  He  only  writ  the  scheme  of  his  sermons,  p.  50. 
His  care  in  catechising  the  youth,  p.  5 1 .     Baptism  and 
the  eucharist,  how  administered  by  him,  p.  52.  His  ob 
servation  of  the  holydays  of  the  church,  p.  54. 

XIV.  The  religious  government  of  his  family,  p.  55.  His 
private  devotions,  p.  58.  The  pious  frame  and  temper  of 
his  mind,  p.  60.  His  singing  of  Psalms  in  his  private  de 
votions,  p,  6 1 .  The  singing  of  Psalms  of  the  old  version 
defended  by  bishop  Beveridge,  p.  62.,     The  character  of 
his  sermons,  p.  63. 

XV.  Mr.  Bull's  manner  of  governing  this   parish,  p.  64. 
He  confirms  two  ladies  that  were  wavering  in  their  reli- 


C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S.  xxxv 

gion,  p.  66.  A  ridiculous  story  of  a  quaker's  challenge, 
p.  68.  His  charity  to  the  poor  and  indigent,  p.  70.  His 
sentiments  upon  charity,  p.  73. 

XVI.  His  only   diversion   agreeable  conversation,  p.  75. 
He  prosecutes  his  studies  with  great  application,  p.  76. 
Several  tracts  composed  by  him  lost,  p.  77. 

XVII.  He  published  his  first  book,  called  Harmonia  Apo- 
stolica,  &c.,  p.  79.  An  account  of  this  book,  p.  80.  The 
causes  and  motives  of  his  writing  it,  p.  8 1 .  A  particular 
obligation  laid  upon  him  to  consider  this  controversy, 
p.  82.  His  preparation  for  writing  it,  ibid.    The  method 
he  took  in  collecting  materials,  p.  83.  How  he  came  to 
write  in  Latin,  ibid. 

XVIII.  The  general  scope  and  design  of  this  treatise,  p.  84. 
His  great  caution  in  treating  this  point  of  justification, 
p.  85.     The  dissatisfaction  of  some  protestant  divines 
hereupon,  p.  86.  The  occasion  and  grounds  of  this  dis 
satisfaction,  ibid.  The  judgment  of  the  church  of  Eng 
land  variously  represented,  p.  87.  The  effect  which  this 
contention  produced,  ibid.     The  advantage  by  it  to  Mr. 
Bull's  cause,  p,  88. 

XIX.  Animadversions  upon  his  book,  p.  89.     The  opposi 
tion  it  met  with  from  three  considerable  men  in  the 
church,  ibid.  And  from  others,  either  half-conformists  or 
non-conformists,  p.  91 . 

XX.  A  review  of  his  method  for  determining  the  sense  of 
St.  James,  p.  91.  The  proposition  of  St.  James   farther 
explained,  p.  92.     This   explication    vindicated    by  five 
several  arguments,  p.  93. 

XXI.  Argument   the   first,  from   the  testimony  of  holy 
Scripture,  p.  93. 

XXII.  Argument  the  second,  from  the  juridical  notion  of 
Justification,  p.  96.  Argument  the  third,  from  the  no 
tion  and  nature  of  faith,  p.  98. 

XXIII.  Argument  the  fourth,  from  God's  proceeding  in 
the  day  of  judgment,  p.  99.    Argument  the  fifth,  from 
the  concession  of  adversaries,  p.  10:. 

XXIV.  The  first  concession,  concerning  a  living  or  opera- 

c  2 


xxxvi  CONTENTS. 

tive  faith,  p.  103.  Second  concession,  concerning  the 
necessity  of  good  works  to  salvation,  p.  104.  An  objec 
tion  answered,  p.  106. 

XXV.  The   proposition   of  St.  James  demonstrated    to 
accord  with  the  sense  of  St.  Paul,  p.  106.  He  shews  both 
the  false  and  true  way  of  solving  the  difficulty,  p.  107. 
How  the  term  justification,  as  used  by  St.  Paul,  is  to 
be  interpreted,  p.  108.     How  the  term  faith,  in  this  con 
troversy,  is  to  be  interpreted,  ibid.    First  argument,  that 
St.  Paul   meaneth   such  a   faith   as   implies  obedience, 
ibid.     Second  argument,  that  St.  Paul   means   such   a 
faith  as  containeth  obedience,  p.  no.     Third  argument, 
that  St.  Paul  meaneth  such  a  faith  as  containeth  obedi 
ence,  p.  112.     The  ground  of  this  manner  of  speaking, 
p.  113. 

XXVI.  The  first  reason  why  St.  Paul  useth  faith  to  de 
scribe  the  condition  required  from  us,  p.  113.     The  se 
cond  reason  why  faith  is   used  to  express  evangelical 
obedience,  p.  1 15. 

XXVII.  How  the  term  works  is  to  be  interpreted  in  this 
controversy,  p.  1 16.     Works  wrought  by  the  Spirit  to  be 
distinguished  from  all  other  works,  p.  117.     Faith  and 
works  constitute  the  Gospel  covenant,  ibid.     All  sort  of 
works  not  excluded  from  justification,  p.  118.    What  sort 
of  works  rejected  from  justification,  p.  119. 

XXVIII.  Animadversions  on  the  Harmonia  sent  to  the 
author,  p.  120.      The  Animadversions  written  by   Mr. 
Charles  Gataker,  p.  121.     The  sum  of  the  Animadver 
sions,  ibid.  Animadv.  I.  II.  ibid.  III. — IX.  p.  122.  X. — 
XV.  p.  123.  XVI.— XX.  p.  124.  XXI.  XXII.  XXIII. 
p.  125.     The  character  of  the  Animadverter,  ibid. 

XXIX.  Mr.  Bull's  motive  for  taking  so  much  notice  of 
Mr.  Gataker's  manuscript  Animadversions,  p.  126.     An 
abstract  of  his  Examen  Censurse,  in  answer  to  them, 
p.  127.     Answer  to  Animad.  I. — VII.  p.  128.  VIII.  IX. 
p.  T  29.  X.  XI.  p.  130.  XII.  XIII.  p.  1 3 1 .  XIV.  XV.  XVI. 
p.  132.  XVII.  XVIII.  XIX.  p.  133.  XX.  XXL  XXII. 
p.  134.  XXIII.  p.  i3y 


CONTENTS. 


XXXVll 


XXX.  Some  farther  observations  of  Mr.  Gataker's  manage 
ment  of  this  controversy,  p.  135.     A  reflection  on  Mr. 
Bull's  management  of  it  against  him,  p.  137.    An  account 
of  the  eldest  Gataker,  and  how  Mr.  Bull  came  to  be 
engaged  with  him,  p.  139. 

XXXI.  The  occasion  and  motives  of  Mr.  Truman's  writino- 

O 

against  the  Harmonia,  p.  140.  His  censure,  how  differ 
ent  from  that  of  Mr.  Gatakor,  and  how  favourable  to 
Mr.  Bull,  p.  141.  How  he  agreed  and  disagreed  with 
Mr.  Bull,  p.  142.  How  some  concurred  with  him  in  the 
very  offence  taken,  for  whom  Mr.  Bull  had  otherwise  an 
esteem,  p.  143.  How  he  came  to  write  against  Mr.  Bull 
in  English  rather  than  in  Latin,  p.  145. 

XXXII.  An  account  of  the  several  treatises  published  by 
him,  against  the  doctrine  and  method  of  Mr.  Bull,  p.  147  4 
An  account  of  the  design  and  method  of  his  last  treatise, 
p.  151.     Principal  mistakes  charged  upon  Mr.  Bull,  (p.  4. 
and  Prof.  p.  2.)  152. 

XXXIII.  The  principles  of  Mr.  Truman  opposite  to  these, 
p.  153.     His  interpretation  of  the  threats  and  promises 
of  the  Old  Testament,  with  a  fourfold  respect,  p.  155. 
His  opinion  of  the  Horeb  covenant,  and  that  made  in 
the  land  of  Moab,  p.  156.     His  sentiments  concerning 
the  nature  of  the  Mosaic  law,  p.  157.     His  commenda 
tion   of    Mr.  Bull,   and   agreement    with   him   in  some 
material  points,  p.  159. 

XXXIV.  His  dissatisfaction,  both  with  Dr.  Hammond  and 
Mr.  Bull,  about  their  notions  of  grace,  p.  160.     Some 
other  objections  raised  against  Mr.  Bull,  p.  1 64.     Some 
of  Mr.  Truman's  concessions,  p.  165.     The  result  of  the 
whole  matter,  p.  166. 

XXXV.  Mr.  Bull  answereth  him  in  English,  p.  1 67.     But 
not  contented  with  that,  answereth  him  in  Latin,  p.  169. 
The  substance  of  his  answer,  ibid. 

XXXVI.  An  hypothesis  of  Mr.  Truman's  examined,  p.  172. 
The  character  of  the  rectifier,  p.  175. 

XXXVII.  Bishop  Nicholson,  Mr.  Bull's  patron,  dies ;  his 
character,  p.  176.     Bishop  Nicholson's  epitaph,  writ  by 


xxxviii  CON  TEN7  TS. 

Mr.  Bull,  p.  177.  How  a  stop  was  put  to  Mr.  Bull's  de 
signs  of  vindicating  some  catholic  doctrines,  p.  1 79.  How 
public  lectures  were  read  against  him  at  Oxford,  p.  181. 

XXXVIII.  How  Dr.  Tully  became  Dr.  Barlow's  second 
against   Mr.  Bull,  p.  182.     The  fitness  of  Dr.  Tully  for 
such  an  undertaking,  and  the  high  expectations  from 
him,  p.  183.     Some  endeavours    of  modest  men  in  the 
church,  to  put  a  stop  to  these  contentions,  p.  184. 

XXXIX.  What  Mr.  Bull  did,  when  he  heard  Dr.  Tully 
was  writing  against  him,  p.  1 86.     What  passed  at  a  visit 
of  Mr.  Bull  to  Dr.  Tully,  p.  187.     Dr.  Tully  publishes  his 
answer  to  Mr.  Bull,  ibid.     The  manner  of  his  stating  the 
question,  and  establishing  his  own  opinion,  p.  1 89.     His 
account  of  the  reasons  why  all  are  not  of  his  opinion, 
p.  191. 

XL.  The  design  of  his  discourse,  De  Sententia  Paulina, 
p.  192.  Dr.  Tully  dies  ;  his  character,  p.  194. 

XLI.  Mr.  Bull  publishes  his  Examen  Censurse  and  his 
Apologia  together,  p.  196.  An  observation  on  his  Exa 
men,  which  vindicates  his  sincerity,  p.  197.  An  observa 
tion  upon  his  Apology,  which  confirms  the  same,  p.  199. 

XLII.  The  preferring  modern  authorities  before  catholic 
tradition,  shewn  to  be  unreasonable,  p.  201.  The  best 
method  of  ending  controversies  in  the  church,  p.  203. 

XLIII.  Mr.  Bull  answers  Dr.  Tully's  objection  of  his  little 
skill  in  the  Fathers  when  he  writ  his  Harmonia,  p.  203. 
The  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers  favour  Mr.  Bull's  inter 
pretation,  p.  204.  His  answer  about  the  judgment  of 
the  church  of  England,  and  the  foreign  reformed,  p.  205. 

XLV.  Dr.  Tully  charged  with  several  errors,  p.  206.  The 
ancient  fathers  of  Mr.  Bull's  opinion  upon  the  seventh  of 
the  Romans,  p.  207. 

XLVI.  Mr.  Baxter  also  answers  Dr.  Tully,  p.  208.  How 
Mr.  Tombes  animadverted  upon  Mr.  Bull,  p.  209.  An 
account  of  this  new  animadverter,  and  his  character, 
p.  213. 

XLVII.  The  charge  of  Dr.  Lewis  du  Moulin  brought 
against  Mr.  Bull  and  his  principles,  p.  216.  The  con- 


CONTENTS.  xxxix 

elusion  of  this  controversy,  that    related  to  Mr.  Bull's 
Harmonia  Apostolica,  p.  218. 

X  L  VIII.  The  same  controversy  at  this  time  carried  on  also 
among  dissenters,  p.  219.  The  case  of  Dr.  Williams 
among  the  dissenters  about  the  Antinomian  controversy, 
p.  221.  The  occasion  that  engaged  him  in  this  contro 
versy,  p.  222.  His  method  in  this  controversy,  p.  223. 
Mr.  Lob  starts  a  new  controversy,  p.  225.  Mr.  Williams 
writes  to  bishop  Stillingfleet,  p.  226.  The  bishop  answers 
Mr.  Williams,  p.  227.  An  appeal  made  to  the  late  bishop 
of  Worcester  by  Mr.  Lob,  p.  228.  The  appeal  considered 
by  the  bishop,  p.  229.  The  questions  proposed  to  bishop 
Stillingfleet  were  sent  to  Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards  likewise, 
p.  230.  A  further  account  of  the  state  of  this  affair,  p.  23 1 . 
How  this  controversy  was  composed,  p.  234.  The  success 
that  followed  hereupon,,  ibid. 

XLTX.  Mr.  Bull  made  prebendary  of  Gloucester  by  the 
earl  of  Nottingham,  p.  236.  The  earl  of  Nottingham's 
method  of  bestowing  his  preferments,  p.  237.  The  pre 
sent  archbishop  of  York  then  his  chaplain,  p.  238. 

L.  Mr.  Bull  finishes  his  Defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith,  p.  239. 
Arian  and  Socinian  writers  in  Holland  spread  their  here 
sies  here,  p.  240.  A  fault  observed  in  some  learned  or 
thodox  writers,  and  the  reasonableness  of  this  treatise, 
ibid.  How  the  treatise,  when  fitted  for  the  press,  was  in 
danger  of  being  utterly  stifled,  p  241.  By  what  means 
it  came  to  be  encouraged  by  bishop  Fell,  p.  242.  and 
printed  at'the  theatre  in  Oxford,  ibid . 

LI.  What  Petavius  had  written  on  this  subject  both  sus 
pected  by  catholics,  and  challenged  by  Arians,  p.  243. 
How  far  vindicated  herein  against  Sandius  by  Mr.  Bull, 
p.  244.  His  conjecture  why  Petavius  lessened  the  au 
thority  of  the  Antenicene  Fathers,  ibid. 

LI  I.  How  Petavius  was  succeeded  in  this  controversy  by 
Curcellseus,  p.  246.  The  different  designs  of  Petavius 
and  Curcellseus,  p.  250 

LIII.  A  mistake  of  Bosstiet  bishop  of  Meaux  concerning 
Mr.  Bull,  p.  250.  No  argument  for  the  infallibility  of 


xl  C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S. 

general  councils  from  the  manner  of  his  vindicating  that 
of  Nice,  p-25i.  A  plain  account  of  the  truth  of  this 
matter,  and  the  grounds  for  undertaking  this  vindica 
tion,  p.  252.  Full  satisfaction  given  herein  to  the  bishop 
of  Meaux,  p.  254. 

LIV.  The  same  attempt  as  to  some  protestant  writers, 
p.  256.  An  advantage  taken  by  Sociuians  and  Arians, 
from  the  writings  of  some  learned  remonstrants,  p.  257. 

LV.  The  chief  pillars  of  the  catholic  faith  concerning 
Christ,  p.  258.  And  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost,  p.  259. 
An  account  of  Mr.  Bull's  thesis  concerning  the  preexist- 
ence  of  Christ,  ibid. 

LVI.  An  account  of  his  thesis  concerning  the  consubstan- 
tiality  of  the  Word  with  God  the  Father,  p.  262.  And 
concerning  his  coeternity  with  him,  p.  264. 

LVII.  Notwithstanding  his  subordination  with  the  Father, 
p.  268.  The  doctrine  of  the  council  of  Nice  vindicated 
by  Mr.  Bull  against  the  modern  Autotheans,  p.  270. 
His  candid  treatment  of  Calvin  on  this  account,  p.  272. 

LVIII.  He  defends  an  equality  of  nature  not  to  be  incon 
sistent  with  such  a  subordination,  p.  273.  The  advantage 
of  this  doctrine  how  by  him  explained,  p.  274. 

LIX.  The  use  of  this  treatise  made  by  Dr.  Clarke,  con 
sidered,  p.  275.  "Whose  scheme  of  the  Trinity  is  com 
pared  with  his,  ibid.  The  doctor's  artful  way  of  citing 
authors  and  books,  p.  278.  More  particularly  the  De- 
fensio  Fidei  Niccence,  p.  279. 

LX.  The  use  of  this  treatise  made  by  Dr.  Edwards,  the 
animadverter  on  Dr.  Clarke,  p.  284. 

LXI.  Of  Dr.  Cudworth  and  Dr.  Sherlock;  and  their  schemes 
compared  with  this  author,  p.  289.  How  adversaries  as 
well  as  friends  applauded  this  performance,  p.  291. 

LXII.  The  bishop  of  Meaux  sends  Monsieur  Jurieu  to 
Dr.  Bull,  for  the  sense  of  the  Fathers  about  the  Trinity, 
p.  293.  An  instance  how  much  Dr.  Bull's  book  was 
esteemed  by  the  Romanists  and  Protestants,  p.  295. 

LXIII.  Mr.  Bull  twenty- seven  years  rector  of  Suddington, 
p.  296.  Preferred  to  Avening  in  Gloucestershire,  p.  298. 


CONTENTS.  xl, 

His  natural  modesty  where  his  interest  was  concerned, 
p.  299.  The  state  and  condition  of  the  parish  when  he 
entered  upon  it,  ibid.  He  keeps  a  curate,  and  his 
manner  of  using  him,  p.  301. 

LXI V.  Mr.  Bull  preferred  by  archbishop  Bancroft  to  the 
archdeaconry  of  Llandaff;  being  his  Grace's  option, 
p.  302.  His  Grace's  character,  p.  303.  The  nature  of  an 
option,  p.  304.  The  degree  of  Doctor  conferred  on  Mr. 
Bull  by  the  university  of  Oxford,  p.  306. 

LXV.  He  establishes  a  sermon  on  Thursday  in  every  week, 
with  catechising,  p.  307.  Very  scrupulous  in  signing 
testimonials,  p.  308.  Ho  suppresses  the  observation  of  a 
wake  in  his  parish,  p.  309.  He  preaches  against  popery 
in  the  reign  of  king  James,  p.  310.  He  was  made  a 
justice  of  peace  after  the  revolution,  p.  3 12. 

LXVI.  His  Judicium  Ecclesice  Catholics,  written  against 
Episcopius,  p.  3 1 4.  His  character  of  Episcopius,  and  his 
motives  to  write  against  him,  p.  315.  The  anathema  of 
the  council  of  Nice  defended  against  him  and  others, 
p.  317.  The  main  occasion  and  design  of  publishing  this 
book,  p.  3 1 8. 

LXVII.  A  short  abstract  of  its  contents  and  method, 
p.  320.  The  Hierosolymitan  Creed,  p.  324.  A  farther 
account  of  the  method  and  argument  of  this  book, 
p.  325. 

LXVIII.  Dr.BmTs  Judgment  of  the  Catholic  Church,  &c., 
sent  to  the  bishop  of  Meaux ;  who,  with  the  rest  of  the 
bishops  of  France,  complimented  the  author,  p.  327. 
The  bishop  of  Meaux's  letter  to  Mr.  Nelson,  concerning 
Dr.  Bull,  p. 329. 

LXIX.  Dr.  Bull  publishes  his  Primitive  and  Apostolical 
Tradition,  &c.,  against  Dr.  Zuicker.  An  account  of  that 
Prussian,  p. 333.  Bred  a  Lutheran,  and  turns  Unitarian, 
p.334.  An  account  of  some  of  this  Doctor's  extravagant 
positions,  p.  336. 

LXX.  How  Dr.  Bull  was  moved  to  write  against  Zuicker, 
and  such  as  copied  after  him,  p.  338.  The  substance 

BULL,  LIFE.  d 


xlii  CONTENTS. 

of  Dr.  Bull's  Primitive  and  Apostolical  Tradition,  &c., 
against  Zuicker  and  others,  p.  341. 

LXXI.  Dr.  Bull's  Latin  Works  collected  into  one  volume 
by  Dr.  Grabe,  p.  342.  Dr.  Grabe's  character,  p.  343. 
Supported  in  his  sickness  by  the  present  lord  high 
treasurer,  earl  of  Oxford  and  Mortimer,  p.  346. 

LXXII.  Dr.  Bull  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  St.  David's, 
p.  347.  St.  David's  formerly  a  metropolitan  see,  p.  350. 
He  buries  his  son,  Mr.  George  Bull,  from  whom  he  ex 
pected  assistance,  p.  351.  Mr.  Bull's  character,  ibid. 
A  testimony  of  his  humility,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Nelson, 
p.  353.  The  bishop  takes  his  seat  in  the  house  of  lords 
at  the  time  of  the  union,  p.  354. 

LXXIII.  The  bishop,  in  July  after  his  consecration,  goes 
into  his  diocese,  p.  356.  The  bishop  appoints  a  triennial 
visitation  by  commissioners,  p.  357.  The  sum  of  the 
charge  prepared  by  the  bishop,  p.  358. 

LXXIV.  The  bishop  confirms  in  several  places,  p.  360. 
The  care  he  took  in  ordaining  deacons  and  priests, 
p.  361.  The  manner  of  bishop  Bull's  treating  the  candi 
dates  of  holy  orders,  p.  362.  His  exhortations  to  them 
after  ordination,  p.  364. 

LXXV.  He  endeavours  to  reform  the  administering  bap 
tism  in  private,  p.  366.  He  frequently  expressed  his  dis 
like  of  lay  impropriations,  p.  367.  The  manner  of  go 
verning  his  family  while  he  was  bishop,  p.  371. 

LXXVI.  His  several  methods  of  charity,  p.  372.  He  de 
signed  to  have  sent  a  circular  letter  to  all  his  clergy ;  a 
rough  draught  whereof  was  drawn  up,  p.  376.  The  de 
sign  of  this  letter,  p.  377.  The  first  thing  recommended, 
the  establishing  family  devotion,  ibid.  The  second  thing 
recommended  is  erecting  charity  schools,  p.  380.  The 
third  thing  recommended  is  a  library  of  books  of  prac 
tical  divinity  for  youth,  p.  382.  The  fourth  thing  recom 
mended,  the  Welsh  Common  Prayer  Book,  p.  383.  The 
fifth  thing  recommended,  to  procure  the  laws  to  be  put 
in  execution  against  vice  or  immorality,  p.  384. 


CONTENTS.  xliii 

LXXVIII.  The  bishop  resided  constantly  in  his  diocese, 
p.  388.  The  bishop  extremely  surprised  by  a  simoniacal 
priest,  p.  390. 

LXXIX.  He  impaired  his  strength  by  intense  and  unsea 
sonable  study,  p.  390.  An  account  of  his  last  sickness, 
p.  391.  His  apprehension  of  the  approach  of  death, 
p.  392.  His  immediate  preparation  for  death,  p.  393. 
The  confession  of  his  faith,  and  general  view  of  his  life, 
p.  394.  His  repentance,  and  ground  of  hope  for  the  re 
mission  of  sins,  ibid.  His  charity,  and  forgiveness  of 
enemies,  p.  398.  His  profession  concerning  the  church 
of  England,  ibid. 

LXXX.  The  manner  of  his  taking  his  solemn  leave,  p.  399. 
His  care  and  affection  for  those  who  waited  upon  him, 
p.  400.  What,  was  observed  of  him  in  the  agony  of 
death,  p.  401.  His  repeated  farewell,  and  dying  exhorta 
tions  to  his  family,  p.  402.  His  death,  p.  403.  He  was 
buried  at  Brecknock,  p.  404.  Bishop  Bull's  character, 
p.  408. 

LXXXI.  An  account  of  bishop  Bull's  sermons  and  dis 
courses,  p.  411.  The  first  use  of  the  sermons,  to  inform 
us  in  some  primitive  truths,  p.  412.  The  middle  state  of 
happiness  and  misery,  ibid.  The  doctrine  of  the  eucha- 
ristical  sacrifice,  p.  414.  The  doctrine  of  angels,  and  the 
uses  of  it,  p.  416.  The  title  of  mother  of  God  asserted 
and  vindicated,  p.  417.  The  second  use  of  the  Sermons 
is  a  model  for  young  preachers,  p.  418.  Dr.  Lupton's 
Letter  to  Mr.  Nelson,  concerning  bishop  Bull's  Sermons, 
p.  420. 

LXXXII.  An  account  of  bishop  Bull's  Discourses;  and 
the  first  concerning  the  blessed  Trinity,  p.  422.  Dr.  Bull's 
Letter  to  archdeacon  Parsons,  p.  423.  Lord  Arundel's 
Letter  to  Mr.  Parsons,  p.  425.  The  fourth  discourse 
concerning  the  Animadversions  upon  Mr.  Gilbert  Clerke, 
p.  426.  Dr.  Bull's  Letter  to  Dr.  Grabe,  p.  427.  Mr. 
Clerke's  Answer  to  Dr.  Bull,  in  behalf  of  the  Unitarians, 
p.  428. 


xliv  CONTENTS. 

LXXXIII.  The  manner  of  Mr.  Clerke's  writing  for  the 
Unitarians  against  the  Doctor,  p.  430.  Some  account  of 
the  life  and  character  of  Mr.  Gilbert  Clerke,  p.  435. 

LXXXIV.  The  fifth  Discourse,  concerning  the  State  of 
Man  before  the  Fall,  &c.,  p.  437.  Communicated  to  Dr. 
Hickes.  His  character,  p.  439.  Dr.  Hickes's  Letter  to 
Mr.  Nelson,  upon  bishop  Bull's  fifth  Discourse,  p.  440. 

LXXXV.  The  sum  and  substance  of  the  fifth  Discourse, 
p.  459.  The  conclusion  of  the  whole,  p.  464. 


THE  LIFE 


THE    LIFE 

OF 

DR.    GEORGE    BULL, 

BISHOP  OF  ST.  DAVID'S. 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 

WHEN  the  reverend  Mr.  Robert  Bull  proposed  The  occa- 
to  me  the  publishing  the  following  sermons  Jrilhfg  this 
and  other  discourses,  which  his  father,  the  late  lord  Llfe> 
bishop  of  St.  David's,  had  ordered  to  be  printed 
after  his  death  ;  I  thought  myself  upon  several 
accounts  obliged  to  comply  with  his  request,  and 
therefore  was  too  easily  overcome  by  his  importu 
nity  :  for  I  had  maintained  a  long  and  intimate 
friendship  with  his  lordship,  which  gave  me  an 
opportunity  of  being  acquainted  with  his  solid  and 
substantial  worth;  I  had  frequently  sa't  at  his  feet 
as  he  was  a  preacher,  and  as  often  felt  the  force  of 
those  distinguishing  talents  which  enabled  him  to 
shine  in  the  pulpit ;  but  above  all,  I  had  preserved  a 
grateful  remembrance  of  those  advantages  which  I 
had  received  from  him  in  my  education,  part  where 
of  was  committed  to  his  care  and  direction*. 

a  [Nelson  was  educated  first  at  St.  Paul's  school,  but  was 
taken  from  thence  by  his  mother  to  live  with  her  at  Dryfield, 
near  Cirencester.  Bull  was  at  that  time  rector  of  Suddington,  a 
neighbouring  village,  and  went  to  Mrs.  Nelson's  house  to  instruct 
her  son.] 

B 


2  THE  LIFE  OF 

An  apology      j  am  Verv  sensible  that  this  engagement  will  carry 

for  attempt-  J  °.  J 

ing  it.  me  into  a  difficult  province  ;  and  it  may  be  thought 
too  presumptuous  for  a  person  no  better  qualified 
than  myself,  to  venture  to  speak  of  so  great  a 
prelate,  so  famous  abroad  for  his  elaborate  and 
judicious  writings,  and  so  valued  at  home  for  his 
unfeigned  piety  and  profound  learning.  To  those 
that  shall  urge  this  I  have  nothing  to  reply,  but  that 
friendship  and  gratitude  are  not  always  governed  by 
the  most  cautious  measures;  that  the  desire  to  do 
justice  to  those  we  love,  frequently  concealeth  from 
us  the  danger  of  such  an  undertaking,  and  throws  a 
veil  over  those  snares  which  hazard  the  success  of 
the  performance.  And  therefore  I  hope  the  sense 
of  obligation,  and  the  zeal  which  I  have  for  the 
memory  of  so  pious  and  learned  a  friend,  which 
moved  me  to  this  assurance  in  writing,  will  serve 
something  for  my  excuse,  and  help  to  shelter  me 
from  that  censure  which  other  ways  I  might  justly 
deserve. 

His  reputa-  It  must  be  owned  that  the  lives  of  great  and  ex- 
by  his  own  celleiit  men  require  skilful  and  faithful  pens ;  that 
the  exactness  and  truth  of  their  characters  may  be 
adorned  with  all  purity,  force,  and  propriety  of 
style;  and  that  the  writer  should  be  animated  with 
a  portion  of  that  genius  which  made  the  person,  he 
draws  for  the  knowledge  and  imitation  of  posterity, 
famous  in  his  generation.  But  the  reputation  of  our 
author  hath  received  so  great  a  brightness  from  his 
own  pen,  that  it  needs  no  auxiliary  light  to  increase 
its  lustre;  and  his  character  is  so  secure  from  his 
own  works,  the  immortal  monuments  of  his  true 
worth,  that  I  am  the  less  concerned  for  my  own 
inability  to  embalm  his  memory ;  especially  since  I 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  a 

hope  the  weight  and  importance  of  the  matter,  will 
make  some  amends  for  those  defects  that  may  arise 
from  the  manner  of  handling  it.  But  besides,  if  he 
had  been  silent  in  his  lifetime,  yet  being  dead  he 
still  speaketh  with  so  much  clearness  and  strength 
of  reason  ;  with  so  masterly  a  knowledge  in  his  own 
profession,  the  best  of  studies ;  with  such  an  affecting 
pathos,  that  impresseth  it  upon  the  minds  of  others ; 
and,  above  all,  with  such  an  inward  sense  of  piety 
and  devotion,  the  true  Christian  unction,  in  those 
sermons  and  discourses  which  are  now  published, 
that  the  world  would  not  have  been  at  a  loss  to  have 
framed  a  just  idea  of  this  consummate  divine,  if 
these  remains  had  been  the  only  works  of  his  which 
were  to  have  been  conveyed  down  to  posterity. 

I  hope  I  may  presume  that  this  undertaking  will  why  it 
not  be  altogether  unacceptable  to  the  learned,  be- 
cause  it  attempteth  to  gratify  a  curiosity  which 
prevaileth  much,  and  is  nourished  among  them ; 
whereby  they  are  prompted  to  search  for  and  in 
quire  after  the  minutest  circumstances,  that  relate 
to  such  authors  who  are  no  otherways  known  to 
them,  than  by  those  learned  works  they  have  left 
behind  them.  And  I  promise  myself  that  good 
men  will  not  be  wanting  in  that  candour  which  is 
essential  to  their  character,  and  which  inclineth 
them  to  be  favourable  to  all  attempts  of  this  nature; 
because  they  freely  allow  that  it  is  but  just  that  the 
memory  of  the  servants  of  God  should  be  preserved 
in  the  church  ;  not  only  that  their  names  may  be 
mentioned  with  honour,  and  that  they  may  be  had 
in  everlasting  remembrance ;  but  that  their  virtues 
may  remain  upon  record  to  provoke  others  to  love 
and  good  works.  For  as  it  is  esteemed  a  piece  of 

B  2 


4  THE  LIFE  OF 

respect  to  commit  their  bodies  to  the  grave  with 
the  decency  at  least,  if  not  with  the  pomp,  of  a 
funeral ;  and  yet  further  to  perpetuate  their  memo 
ries  by  the  magnificence  of  monuments,  and  the 
eloquence  of  inscriptions,  though  all  this  serveth 
chiefly  to  cover  the  frightfulness  of  mortality;  so 
the  same  charity  and  respect  oblige  us  to  set  their 
virtuous  and  pious  actions  in  a  clear  light,  that  we 
may  discover  the  beauty  and  brightness  of  them,  in 
order  the  better  to  reverence  them,  as  well  as  to 
direct  our  own  steps.  It  being  very  reasonable  that 
we  should  not  be  more  solicitous  to  bury  them  with 
honour,  than  we  are  to  make  them  rise  in  ourselves 
by  remembrance  and  imitation. 
Reasons  What  I  apprehend  will  carry  this  Life  to  a  greater 

for  the  ill  . 

length  of  length  than  1  at  first  imagined,  is  the  history  or 
those  important  controversies  in  which  our  learned 
author  was  engaged ;  and  the  abstract  of  those 
fundamental  doctrines  which  he  hath,  with  great 
perspicuity  of  style  and  matter,  delivered  in  the  lan 
guage  of  the  learned.  The  particulars  that  relate  to 
the  first  certainly  come  in  as  a  part  of  his  Life; 
and  the  other  was  necessary  to  be  attempted,  that 
those  readers,  whose  knowledge  is  confined  to  their 
own  language,  might  have  a  truer  notion  of  the 
capacity  and  genius  of  that  reverend  prelate,  whose 
Life  I  am  about  to  write,  and  therefore  I  hope  I 
have  a  just  title  to  their  pardon  for  the  length  of  it. 
And  so,  beseeching  God  to  enable  me  to  finish  what 
I  begin  in  his  name,  and  dedicate  to  his  honour  and 
glory,  I  shall  proceed  to  the  subject  I  have  under 
taken. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  5 

I.  T\R.  GEORGE  BULL,  the  late  learned  bishop    ,634. 

L/  of  St.  David's,  was  born  in  the  parish  of  St.  Wht^F 
Cuthbert  at  Wells,  in  the  county  of  Somerset,  onSreWaSIr' 
the  twenty-fifth  of  March,  1634,  being  the  feast  of born- 
the  Annunciation  of  the  blessed  Virgin.  So  that  the 
place  and  day  where  he  first  saw  the  light  were  very 
remarkable :  the  one  for  being  a  bishop's  seat,  and 
giving  title  to  the  see  near  two  hundred  years  before 
the  denomination  of  Bath  was  added,  and  procured 
precedency  in  the  style ;  the  other  for  being  distin 
guished  among  the  greatest  festivals  in  the  Christ 
ian  calendar,  if  we  consider  it  not  only  as  instituted 
in  honour  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  mother  of  our 
Lord,  whom  all  generations  are  to  call  blessed,  but 
as  it  related  to  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God, 
the  Saviour  of  the  world.  And  it  so  fell  out  by  the 
disposition  of  Providence,  that  this  learned  man  lived 
to  adorn  both  the  subjects  of  this  festival ;  the  latter 
in  his  admirable  defence  of  the  Nicene  faith,  and 
the  former  in  that  excellent  sermon  of  the  follow 
ing  collection,  which  asserteth  and  vindicateth  those 
great  privileges  and  excellencies,  which  were  the 
blessed  Virgin's  peculiar  honour  and  ornament. 

His  descent  was  from  an  ancient  family  of  very  His  family 
good  note  among  the  gentry  in  Somersetshire,  where  age. 
they  have  a  very  handsome  seat,  and  a  very  fair  and 
large  estate  at  Shapwick  in  the  said  county.     His 
father,  Mr.  George  Bull,  was  second  son  of  William 
Bull,  esq.  who  had  ten  sons  and  eight  daughters; 
so  that  by  reason  the  family  was  so  numerous,  he 
was  bred  to  a  trade  in  Wells,  and  became  a  principal 
member  in  that  corporation.     The  settling  him  in 
the  world  after  this  manner  was  very  much  against 


6  THE  LIFE  OF 

1634.     his  own  desire;  which  carried  him  towards  a  learned 


education,  which  he  designed  the  rather  that  he 
might  become  particularly  serviceable  to  the  church 
of  God ;  but  the  choice  of  his  parents  determined 
him  another  way,  in  which  he  succeeded  much  bet 
ter  than  they  ordinarily  do,  who  engage  against  the 
bent  of  their  inclinations.  The  direct  male  line  of 
this  ancient  family  being  now  extinctb,  the  estate  is 
devolved  upon  Mrs.  Eleanor  Doddington,  sole  heiress 
of  Henry  Bull,  esq.  of  Shapwick,  and  wife  of  George 
Doddington,  esq.  who  is  member  of  parliament  for 
the  borough  of  Bridgwater,  and  was  one  of  the  late 
lords  commissioners  of  the  admiralty.  By  this  it 
appears  that  Mr.  Bull  was  by  extraction  a  gentle 
man,  an  advantage  which  he  the  less  wanted,  be 
cause  he  was  engaged  in  a  profession,  which  is  not 
only  highly  honourable  in  itself,  but  conferreth 
greater  degrees  of  honour  on  those  who  are  the  best 
born.  And  let  the  family  be  never  so  conspicuous, 
the  learning  and  piety  of  any  branch  of  it  addeth 
more  to  its  true  lustre  and  glory,  than  it  is  capable 
of  giving  by  any  blood  it  can  convey. 

He  was  ear-      It  may  not  be  amiss  to  observe  here,  that  Mr.  Bull 
edtotiie     was  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  church  at  the 
the^hiirch  same  time  that  he  was  made  a  member  of  it ;  for  his 
father  declared  at  the  font,  that  he  intended  him  for 
holy  orders.     In  which  he  was  the  more  zealous,  by 
reason  of  the  disappointment  he  had  met  with  him 
self  from  the  fixed   resolutions  of  his  parents,  who 
would  never  comply  with  his  earnest  and  repeated 
desires  of  being  made  a  clergyman.     But  this  good 

b  [In  Shapwick  church  there  are  monuments  to  many  of  the 
family :  the  latest  is  that  of  Henry  Bull,  son  of  William  and 
Joanna  Bull,  who  died  in  1751.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  7 

man  did  not  live  to  see  his  pious  design  put  in  exe-  1638. 
cution ;  for  dying  when  his  son  George  was  but  four  ~~ 
years  old,  he  could  not  have  made  one  step  in  that 
education  which  was  necessary  to  qualify  his  son  for 
the  service  of  the  altar.  I  venture  to  call  him  a 
good  man,  because  the  memory  that  is  still  preserved 
of  him  representeth  him  as  a  person  that  was  very 
conscientious  in  his  dealings,  and  very  pious  towards 
God ;  and  when  he  left  off  his  trade,  which  he  was 
never  well  pleased  with,  because  it  diverted  him 
from  holy  orders,  which  he  chiefly  coveted,  he  gave 
considerable  charities  to  the  poor;  and  after  having 
been  twice  mayor  of  the  city  of  Wells,  became  a 
benefactor  to  the  corporation.  But  though  his  father 
left  several  daughters,  yet  George  was  his  only  son, 
who  was  committed  to  the  care  and  tuition  of 
guardians  by  his  father's  last  will,  with  an  estate  of 
200^.  per  annum,  which  had  a  rent-charge  upon  it 
of  near  50/.  a  year,  payable  to  his  father's  widow, 
who  was  his  mother-in-law ;  for  his  own  mother c 
died  soon  after  he  was  born.  Thus  by  the  provi 
dence  of  God,  and  the  care  of  a  good  parent,  he  was 
enabled  to  support  the  charge  of  a  liberal  education, 
which  many  famous  men  have  obtained  with  great 
difficulty,  and  not  without  the  assistance  of  persons 
charitably  disposed ;  and  what  good  use  he  made  of 
such  an  advantage,  we  may  be  instructed  from  the 
ensuing  passages  of  his  life. 

II.  When  he  was  fit  to  receive  the  first  rudiments  Educated 

,       ,         at  Tiverton 

of  learning,  he  was  placed  in  a  grammar-school  at  school  in 
Wells,  where  he  continued  not  long;  but  by  the0' 

c  [Her  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Perkyns.    Wood.} 


8  THE  LIFE  OF 

1634.    care  of  his  guardians  was  to  great  advantage  re 


moved  to  the  free-school  of  Tiverton  in  Devonshire, 
of  the  greatest  note  of  any  in  the  west  of  England. 
This  school  was  founded  by  Mr.  Peter  Blundel,  a 
clothier,  in  the  year  1604,  with  a  very  good  mainte 
nance  for  a  schoolmaster  and  usher,  and  is  not  more 
considerable  for  its  liberal  endowment,  than  it  is  for 
its  stately  and  noble  structure.  There  are  150  of 
the  foundation ;  and  if  that  number  cannot  be  sup 
plied  from  the  town  and  parish  of  Tiverton  itself, 
which  seldom  furnisheth  above  half  so  many,  then 
the  adjacent  places  have  the  advantage  of  providing 
the  rest ;  for  the  scholars  generally  rather  exceed 
than  fall  short  of  the  prescribed  complement.  It 
hath  the  privilege  of  sending  two  fellows  and  two 
scholars  to  Balliol  college  in  Oxford,  and  the  same 
number  of  both  to  Sidney  college  in  Cambridge, 
which  are  chose  here,  and  incorporated  afterwards 
into  the  respective  societies  in  the  universities.  An 
encouragement  wisely  contrived  to  preserve  the 
school  in  honour  and  reputation,  and  experience 
confirmeth  the  observation ;  for  it  not  only  flou- 
risheth  at  present,  but  hath  made  the  most  consider 
able  figure  of  any  in  that  part  of  the  nation  ever 
since  its  first  foundation. 

An  account      Mr.  Samuel  Butler,  the  master  under  whom  Mr. 
t"/0fhhjrsac~  Bull  was  educated,  was  very  eminent  in  his  profes- 
master.      gjon    an  excellent  grammarian  both  for  Latin  and 
Greek,  diligent  in  his  office,  and  vigilant  in  his  care 
and    observation   of  his  scholars.     He  was  recom 
mended  to  this  post  by  my  lord  chief  justice  Pop- 
ham,  who  by  the  will  of  the  founder  was  consti 
tuted  the  chief  director  of  every  thing  which  related 
to  this  free-school ;  and  he  was  so  considerable  in 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  9 

his  employment,  that  when  he  removed  to  Tiverton,     1634. 
he  brought  several  gentlemen's  sons  with  him  ;  so  ~ 
that  he  had  scholars  from  many  parts  of  the  kin<r- 
dom,  and  bred  several  persons,  considerable  for  their 
learning,  during  the  long  time  he  continued  master, 
which  was  above  six  and  thirty  years. 

Mr.  Bull,  by  his  great  diligence,  and  by  a  remark-  ">«  great 
able  pregnancy  of  parts,  made  a  very  considerable  pn 
progress  in  all  classical  learning,  under  a  person  who 
was  so  able  and  so  willing  to  instruct  him.  And  it 
was  the  usual  method  of  this  master,  when  he  gave 
his  boys  themes  for  verses,  to  press  them  to  exert 
themselves  and  to  do  their  best,  because  he  judged 
how  far  each  boy's  capacity  would  carry  him  ;  but 
he  always  told  George  Bull,  that  he  expected  from 
him  verses  like  those  of  Ovid  ;  because,  saith  he,  I 
know  you  can  do  it.  Sufficiently  thereby  intimating 
that  his  scholar  had  a  capacity  and  genius  which 
enabled  him  to  excel  in  such  exercises.  And  we 
may  very  well  suppose  that  the  master  took  no  small 
pains  in  cultivating  such  a  good  soil,  and  that  the 
scholar  was  not  less  observant  of  the  rules  and  di 
rections  which  were  proposed  to  him  by  so  able  an 
instructor,  when  we  are  assured  that  Mr.  Bull  was 
every  ways  fit  for  the  university  before  he  attained 
the  fourteenth  year  of  his  age. 


III.  Thus  young  was  Mr.  Bull  removed  from  the  Removed 

»  to  1/xeter 

free-school  of  Tiverton  to  Exeter  college  in  Oxford,  college  in 

Oxford. 

where  he  was  entered  a  commoner  the  tenth  day  of 
July,  1648.     Here  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of    l648- 
Mr.  Baldwin  Ackland,  who  was  his  tutor,  and  very 
considerable  for  his  learning  and  piety,  zealous  for 
his  sovereign,  when    so   many  of  his   subjects   and 


10  THE  LIFE  OF 

1648.  friends  forsook  him,  and  true  to  the  interest  of  the 
church  in  her  most  afflicted  circumstances.  Yet 
notwithstanding  that  he  was  under  the  direction  of 
so  zealous  and  orthodox  a  divine,  it  must  not  be 
concealed  that  Mr.  Bull  lost  much  of  the  time  he 
spent  at  the  university,  and  he  frequently  mentioned 
it  himself  with  great  sorrow  and  regret ;  though  he 
did  not,  as  it  is  too  usual,  impute  this  misfortune  of 
his  life  to  any  remissness  in  the  government  of  the 
place,  or  to  any  negligence  in  his  tutor,  but  to  the 
great  rawness  and  inexperience  of  his  age.  For 
being  transplanted  very  young  from  the  strict  disci 
pline  of  a  school  to  the  enjoyment  of  manly  liberty, 
before  he  had  consideration  enough  to  make  use  of 
it  to  the  best  purposes,  he  was  overpowered  by  that 
love  of  pleasure  and  diversion,  which  so  easily  cap 
tivate  youth  when  it  is  not  upon  the  guard.  But  as 
the  freedoms  he  took  were  chiefly  childish  follies, 
so  when  he  prosecuted  them  with  the  greatest 
earnestness,  he  still  gave  sufficient  evidence  of  an 
extraordinary  genius,  and  by  the  help  of  his  logical 
rules  which  he  made  himself  master  of  with  little 
labour,  and  his  close  way  of  maintaining  his  argu 
ment,  which  was  natural  to  him,  he  quickly  got  the 
reputation  of  a  smart  disputant,  and  as  such  was 
taken  notice  of  by  his  superiors. 
Taken  no-  There  were  two  great  men  at  that  time  who  had 

tice  of  by  . 

two  great  a  particular  regard  for  him ;  the  one  was  Dr.  Co- 
nant,  the  rector  of  the  colleged,  who  encouraged 
learning  during  his  government,  and  gave  an  exam 
ple  of  piety  to  those  under  his  care.  It  is  true  that 

a  [He  was  not  made  rector  till  June  1649,  eleven  months  after 
Hull's  admission.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  11 

he  was  one  of  the  commissioners  on  the  presbyterian  1648-9. 
side  at  the  conference  in  the  Savoy,  and  that  he  re-  ~ 
fused  to  subscribe  the  Act  of  Conformity  in  1662 ; 
but  afterwards,  upon  better  thoughts,  he  complied, 
and  became  minister  of  Northampton,  was  made 
archdeacon  of  Norwich,  and  installed  prebendary  of 
Worcester,  and  died  possessed  of  these  preferments, 
and  a  worthy  member  of  the  church  of  England,  in 
a  good  old  age,  in  March  1693.  The  other  was 
that  great  prelate,  bishop  Prideaux e,  who  by  his 
learned  works  was  famous  abroad  as  well  as  in  his 
own  country,  which,  with  his  steady  loyalty  to  his 
sovereign,  made  him  worthy  of  the  bishopric  of 
Worcester,  which  was  conferred  upon  him  in  1641, 
though  by  the  confusions  of  those  times  he  reaped 
little  or  no  advantage  from  it ;  for  he  died  in  mean 
circumstances  in  September,  1650,  and  left  no  legacy 
to  his  children  but  pious  poverty,  God's  blessing,  and 
a  father's  prayers,  as  he  expresseth  it  himself  in  his 
last  will.  This  learned  bishop,  in  those  times  of 
persecution,  fled  for  sanctuary  in  or  near  that  col 
lege  which  he  had  formerly  governed  as  rector  with 
great  applause.  Both  these  considerable  persons 
took  more  notice  than  ordinary  of  Mr.  Bull ;  they 
would  frequently  call  upon  him  to  mind  his  studies, 
and  took  all  occasions  to  encourage  him  in  the  pro 
secution  of  them ;  and  their  advice  he  would  often 
own  made  very  deep  impressions  upon  him.  Which 
sheweth  of  what  consequence  it  is  for  men  of  figure 
and  authority  to  cultivate  those  tender  minds  that 
are  under  their  government,  by  animadverting  some 
times  upon  their  faults,  and,  when  there  is  occasion, 

e  [John  Prideaux.] 


12  THE  LIFE  OF 

1648-9.  by  exciting  their  industry  with  just  commendations 


and  proper  encouragements. 
Acquainted      While  Mr.  Bull  resided  in  Exeter  college,  he  sat 

with  Mr.  ° 

Clifford,  at  the  same  table,  and  contracted  a  particular  ac- 
lord  high8  quaintance,  with  Mr.  Clifford,  who  afterwards  came 
Ier'  by  several  gradual  promotions  to  enjoy  the  greatest 
post  in  this  kingdom :  for  after  he  had  served  in 
several  parliaments,  and  had  been  present  in  several 
engagements  at  sea,  in  the  war  against  the  Dutch, 
and  had  been  employed  abroad  in  several  embassies ; 
and  in  all  those  posts  having  given  great  proofs  of 
his  courage  and  capacity,  and  skill  in  business,  he 
was  first  made  comptroller,  and  afterwards  treasurer 
of  the  king's  household,  one  of  the  commissioners  of 
the  treasury,  and  for  some  time,  during  the  earl  of 
Arlington's  absence  in  Holland,  executed  the  office 
of  secretary  of  state;  in  1672,  he  was  created  baron 
Clifford  of  Chudleigh  in  Devonshire,  and  in  the  same 
year  made  lord  high  treasurer  of  England,  which 
white  staff  he  resigned  in  June  the  year  following, 
being  not  willing,  as  it  was  said,  to  qualify  himself 
according  to  the  Test  act.  But  this  greatness  of 
Mr.  Bull's  friend  was  attended  with  no  advancement 
to  his  fellow  collegiate ;  though  I  am  informed  his 
lordship  did  make  some  attempts  to  procure  Mr. 
Bull  preferment ;  and  solicited  my  lord  keeper  Bridg- 
inan  particularly  for  a  prebend  of  Gloucester ;  but  it 
is  possible  that  my  lord's  reign  of  favour  being  short f, 
he  might  retire  from  his  great  employments  before 
there  happened  any  vacancy  in  that  church ;  besides 

1  [He  was  lord  keeper  from  Aug.  30,  1667,  to  Nov.  5,  1672, 
between  which  dates  the  application  must  have  been  made,  while 
Bull  was  rector  of  Suddington.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  13 

Mr.  Bull  living  at  a  distance  from  court,  and  not  1648-9. 
understanding  the  art  of  intriguing  for  preferment,  ~~ 
might  easily  be  forgot  by  a  great  man,  who  never 
wanted  such  in  his  eye  that  made  interest  for  his 
favour. 


IV.  Mr.  Bull  had  not  been  admitted  two  years  He  retires 
in  Exeter  college  before  the  Engagement  was  im-  ford  upon 


posed  upon  the  nation  by  a  pretended  act  of  parlia- ™,  ^f ' 

mt. 
1649. 


ment,  which  passed  in  January,  1649-     The  kingly ment- 


office  being  abolished  upon  the  murder  of  an  excel 
lent  prince,  it  was  declared,  that  for  the  time  to 
come  England  should  be  governed  as  a  common 
wealth  by  parliament ;  that  was,  by  that  handful  of 
men  who,  by  their  art  and  power  and  villainy,  had 
wrought  that  wonderful  alteration.  And  that  they 
might  secure  their  new  government,  and  have  some 
obligations  of  obedience  from  their  subjects  for  the 
future,  who  had  broken  all  the  former  oaths  which 
they  had  taken,  as  is  observed  by  a  noble  author*, 
this  new  oath  was  prepared  and  established ;  the 
form  whereof  was,  that  every  man  should  swear, 
That  he  would  be  trite  and  faithful  to  the  com 
monwealth  of  England,  as  it  was  then  established, 
without  a  king  or  house  of  lords.  And  whosoever 
refused  to  take  that  engagement,  was  to  be  incapa 
ble  of  holding  any  place  or  office  in  church  or  state  ; 
and  they,  who  had  no  employments  to  lose,  were  to 
be  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  the  law,  and  disabled 

S  [Lord  Clarendon,  who  says  that  the  substance  of  the  oath 
was,  that  every  man  should  swear,  that  he  would  be  true  and  faith 
ful  to  the  government  established  without  king  or  house  of  peers, 
and  that  he  would  never  consent  to  the  readmitting  either  of 
them  again.] 


14  THE  LIFE  OF 

1649.  from  suing  in  an}7  court.  There  was  great  zeal 
shewn  in  several  places  to  procure  this  acknowledg 
ment  and  submission  from  the  people  to  this  new 
government ;  particularly  all  the  members  of  the 
university  were  summoned  to  appear,  and  solemnly 
to  own  the  right  and  title  of  the  commonwealth  to 
their  allegiance.  Our  young  student  appeared  upon 
this  occasion,  and  signalized  himself  by  refusing  to 
take  the  oath.  The  several  hypotheses  that  were 
then  started  to  make  men  easy  under  a  change  of 
government,  which  was  directly  contrary  to  the 
national  constitution,  could  not  prevail  upon  him  to 
comply.  Neither  the  argument  of  providence,  nor 
present  possession,  nor  the  advantages  of  protection, 
which  were  all  pleaded  in  those  times,  were  strong 
enough  to  influence  a  mind  that  was  early  deter 
mined  to  be  constant  in  his  duty  towards  the  church 
and  the  king. 

He  goes  It  must  be  owned  that  it  was  a  great  happiness 
Tutor  Mr.  to  Mr.  Bull,  that  his  tutor  Mr.  Ackland  set  him  an 
toCNorth  example  °f  this  steady  loyalty;  for  then  precepts 
operate  to  the  best  purpose,  when  we  strengthen 
them  by  our  own  practice.  But  besides,  Mr.  Bull 
had  this  further  advantage  from  Mr.  Ackland's  re 
fusing  the  engagement,  that  they  retired  together 
from  the  university  to  North- Cadbury  in  Somerset 
shire,  whither  also  many  other  of  his  pupils,  who 
were  desirous  to  continue  under  the  conduct  of  so 
good  and  so  able  a  man,  quickly  followed  ;  where 
they  pursued  their  studies  without  distraction  ;  and 
found  that  quiet  in  a  village,  which  they  had  in  vain 
sought  for  in  a  college.  It  is  not  certain  how  long- 
he  continued  with  his  tutor  in  this  retirement ;  but 
by  the  best  judgment  that  can  be  made,  in  a  fact  at 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  15 

such  a  distance,  it  is  highly  probable  they  did  not    1653. 
part  till  Mr.  Bull  had  attained  the  nineteenth  year~ 
of  his  age;   and  so  consequently  that  he  then  laid 
that  foundation  of  learning,  which  is  necessary  as  a 
preliminary  to  any  particular  learned  profession,  and 
upon  which  he  built  his  future  studies  in  divinity. 

And  what  was  yet  of  greater  importance,  by  this  He  was  in- 

,  .  tit  fluenoed  to 

retreat  into  ms  own  country,  he  had  frequent  con- great  sen- 

• ,  i  £  -i  •        •    ,_  n    .  ousness  by 

verse  with  one  or  ms  sisters,  a  woman  of  incompara-  a  sister. 
ble  parts,  and  of  solid  piety,  whose  good  sense  exer 
cised  itself  chiefly  upon  the  best  objects ;  for  she 
made  religion  her  great  care  and  employment.  It 
was  this  woman  that  the  providence  of  God  made 
instrumental  in  reducing  Mr.  Bull  entirely  from  his 
youthful  vanities  ;  for  by  the  strength  of  her  reason 
she  exposed  the  folly  and  emptiness  of  them  :  by 
the  frequency  of  her  admonitions  she  prevailed  upon 
him  to  consider  the  weight  of  what  she  urged  ;  and 
by  the  tender  and  affectionate  manner  with  which 
all  her  discourses  were  tinctured,  she  made  deep 
impressions  upon  his  mind  ;  but  above  all,  by  the 
ardency  and  fervour  of  her  prayers,  she  prevailed  for 
such  a  supply  of  divine  grace  as  enabled  him  to  for 
sake  them.  This  substantial  proof  of  friendship  he 
always  remembered  with  great  gratitude  to  God 
and  his  sister ;  and  that  seriousness  of  mind  which 
Heaven  by  her  means  bestowed  upon  him,  had  an 
admirable  effect  upon  his  studies,  which  he  now 
prosecuted  with  such  earnestness,  as  rendered  him 
afterwards  so  useful  and  so  famous  in  the  world. 

V.  His  application  and  industry  began  now  to  be  impute 
conspicuous ;   and  having  no  thoughts  of  returning  under  the 

,  .conduct  of 

to  the  university,  the  state  and  condition  thereof  an  eminent 

divine. 


16  THE  LIFE  OF 

1653-  being  at  that  time  no  ways  inviting,  he  was  advised 
by  his  guardians  and  other  relations  to  put  himself 
under  the  conduct  of  some  eminent  divine,  whose 
knowledge  and  skill  might  steer  him  right  in  his 
theological  studies,  which  he  purposed  to  prosecute, 
and  whose  pious  example  might  season  his  mind 
with  all  those  Christian  virtues,  which  are  requisite 
not  only  for  the  government  of  a  private  life,  but  are 
also  necessary  to  discharge  the  duties  of  that  sacred 
function  in  which  he  designed  to  engage. 
Theadvan-  And  upon  this  occasion  I  cannot  help  wishing, 

tage  of  se-     „  ....  «»        •  i  i        •  1  1     T    i 

from  the  hearty  affection  and  good-will  1  bear  to 


of""  the  welfare  of  religion  in  general,  and  to  the  pros- 
holy  orders-  perity  of  the  church  of  England  in  particular,  that 
as  we  have  noble  foundations  for  the  encouragement 
of  all  sorts  of  learning,  and  especially  for  divinity 
itself,  in  our  two  famous  universities,  which  are  the 
wonder  of  the  world  for  the  number  of  their  col 
leges,  their  stately  structures,  and  liberal  endow 
ments  ;  so  that  we  had  also  some  of  these  founda 
tions  entirely  set  apart  for  the  forming  of  such  as  are 
candidates  for  holy  orders,  where  they  might  be 
fully  instructed  in  all  that  knowledge  which  that 
holy  institution  requires,  and  in  all  those  duties 
which  are  peculiarly  incumbent  upon  a  parochial 
priest.  Where  lectures  might  be  daily  read,  which 
in  a  certain  course  of  time  should  include  a  per 
fect  scheme  of  divinity  ;  where  all  particular  cases 
of  conscience  might  be  clearly  stated,  and  such  gene 
ral  rules  laid  down,  as  might  be  able  to  assist  them 
in  giving  satisfaction  to  all  those  that  repair  to  them 
for  advice  in  difficult  matters.  Where  they  might 
receive  right  notions  of  all  those  spiritual  rights 
which  are  appropriated  to  the  priesthood,  and  which 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  17 

are  not  in  the  power  of  the  greatest  secular  person  1653. 
either  to  convey  or  abolish  ;  and  yet  are  of  such  great 
importance,  that  some  of  them  are  not  only  neces 
sary  to  the  well-being,  but  to  the  very  being  of  the 
church.  Where  they  might  be  taught  to  perform  all 
the  public  offices  of  religion  with  a  becoming  gravity 
and  devotion,  and  with  all  that  advantage  of  elo 
cution,  which  is  aptest  to  secure  attention,  and  beget 
devout  affections  in  the  congregation.  Where  they 
might  particularly  be  directed,  how  to  receive  clini 
cal  confessions,  how  to  make  their  applications  to 
persons  in  times  of  sickness,  and  have  such  a  method 
formed  to  guide  their  addresses  of  that  nature,  that 
they  might  never  be  at  a  loss  when  they  are  called 
upon  to  assist  sick  and  dying  persons.  Where  they 
might  be  instructed  in  the  art  of  preaching;  where 
by  I  mean  not  only  the  best  method  in  composing 
their  sermons,  but  all  those  decent  gestures  and 
graceful  deportment,  the  influence  whereof  all  hear 
ers  can  easier  feel  than  express.  And  where  they 
might  have  such  judicious  rules  given  them  for  pro 
secuting  their  theological  studies  as  would  be  of 
great  use  to  them  in  their  future  conduct.  But, 
above  all,  where  they  might  be  formed  by  constant 
practice,  and  by  the  example  of  their  superiors,  to 
piety  and  devotion,  to  humility  and  charity,  to  mor 
tification  and  self-denial,  to  contentedness  and  sub 
mission  to  the  will  of  God  in  all  conditions  of  human 
life;  and  more  especially  excited  to  great  zeal  in 
promoting  the  salvation  of  souls,  which  is  the  true 
spring  of  all  that  industry  and  application  which  is 
required  in  the  clerical  function. 

It  would  be  a  mighty  satisfaction  to  the  governors  The  fruit  to 

i         i_     i  j  ')e  reaped 

of  the   church,   to  ordain  persons  who   had   passed  from  them. 

c 


18  THE  LIFE  OF 

some  time  in  such  seminaries  with  the  approbation 
of  their  superiors.  It  would  be  no  small  comfort  to 
the  candidates  themselves  to  be  so  qualified  by  the 
purity  of  their  intentions,  and  by  their  personal 
endowments,  as  to  find  themselves  able  to  answer, 
with  a  good  conscience,  that  important  demand  in 
ordination,  Whether  they  trust  they  are  inwardly 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  them  that 
office  and  ministration  f  And  it  would  certainly  be 
a  great  blessing  to  the  nation  to  have  such  labourers 
sent  into  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord,  as  had  been 
wrought  up  by  particular  application  and  study  to 
that  purpose.  That  man  knoweth  but  little  of  the 
dignity  and  importance  of  the  priesthood,  that  can 
content  himself  with  ordinary  attainments  for  the 
discharge  of  so  great  and  so  sacred  a  trust ;  and  yet 
he  will  find  himself  very  much  deceived,  if  he  de- 
pendeth  upon  the  greatest  perfection  of  human 
knowledge,  without  constant  and  fervent  prayer  to 
God  for  his  grace  to  enable  him  to  make  a  right 
use  of  it.  This  is  necessary  to  sanctify  his  learning, 
though  it  be  of  never  so  prodigious  a  size ;  by  keep 
ing  him  within  the  bounds  of  humility,  and  by  ren 
dering  him  serviceable  to  those  who  are  committed 
to  his  charge.  But  to  proceed. 

He  is  put        The  times  being  very  distracted  when  Mr.  Bull 

direction  of  was  advised,  as  I   said,  to  put  himself  under    the 

mas  Th°     direction  of  some  eminent  divine,  his  guardians  and 

relations  were  very  much  divided  in  their  opinions 

as  to  the  choice  of  the  person  under  whose  care  he 

was  to  be  placed.     His  uncle,  William  Bull,  esq.h 

h  [He  died  in  1676,  having  married  Jane,  daughter  and  coheir 
of  Henry  Southworth,  of  Wells,  esq.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  19 

of  Shapvvick,  and  some  others,  inclined  to  Dr.  Ham-  1653. 
mond,  a  most  eminent  episcopal  divine,  whose  name"" 
will  always  be  mentioned  with  honour  and  respect 
by  those  who  are  true  friends  to  the  church  of  Eng 
land  ;  for  he  adhered  to  her  when  her  condition  was 
most  deplorable,  defended  her  doctrines  and  disci 
pline  by  his  learned  and  judicious  pen,  and  adorned 
them  by  a  conversation  strictly  virtuous  and  pious. 
But  they  prevailed  who  proposed  Mr.  William  Tho 
mas,  rector  of  Ubley,  in  the  county  of  Somerset,  to 
which  preferment  he  was  advanced  by  the  free  and 
unsolicited  bounty  of  Thomas  Egerton,  baron  of 
Ellesmere,  and  lord  chancellor  of  England.  This 
Mr.  Thomas  was  then  in  great  reputation  for  his 
piety,  and  esteemed  one  of  the  chief  ministers  of  his 
time  in  the  neighbourhood  where  he  lived.  He  was 
always  reckoned  a  puritan,  and  closed  with  the 
presbyterian  measures  in  1642,  and  was  appointed 
an  assistant  to  the  commissioners  of  Oliver  Crom 
well,  for  the  ejecting  such  whom  they  then  called 
scandalous,  ignorant,  and  insufficient  ministers  and 
schoolmasters.  He  lived  to  be  ejected  himself  for 
nonconformity,  though  he  died  among  his  parish 
ioners  in  1667-  Mr.  Bull  complied  with  the  de 
termination  of  his  guardians1,  and  put  himself  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Thomas,  in  whose  house  he 
boarded  with  some  of  his  own  sisters  for  the  space 
of  two  years ;  where  he  had  the  advantage  indeed 

1  [Wood  says,  that  upon  his  leaving  Oxford  he  "  sojourned  in 
"  the  house  of  Mr.  Henry  Jeanes,  rector  of  Chedzoy,  in  the  same 
"  county,  (Somerset,)  and  did  under  him  improve  his  knowledge 
"  much  in  academical  learning."  Chedzoy  is  not  far  from  Shap- 
wick.  Bull  must  have  resided  there  between  his  being  at  North- 
Cadbury,  and  his  going  to  Ubley.] 

c  2 


20  THE  LIFE  OF 

1653.    of  living  in  a  very  regular  family,  but  he  received 


little  or  no  real  improvement  or  assistance  from  him 
in  his  study  of  divinity,  and  would  often  lament  his 
great  misfortune  in  that  choice. 

He  con-          However  it  must  be  owned,  that  there  was  one 
friendship   circumstance  that  made  Mr.  Bull  some  amends  for 


with  Mr.    the  time  he  lost  under  this  director,  which  was,  the 

Thomas  s 

son,  which  opportunity  he  had  by  this  means  of  contracting  an 

was  very 

advantage-  intimate  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Samuel  Thomas,  the 
a>  son  of  Mr.  William  Thomas  ;  a  person  of  a  very 
valuable  character  for  his  piety  and  learning,  who 
was  afterwards  chaplain  at  Christ  Church  in  Oxford, 
vicar  of  Chard  in  Somersetshire,  and  prebendary  of 
Wells.  The  friendship  now  begun,  was  -afterwards 
cultivated  by  many  mutual  kind  offices,  and  when 
they  were  at  a  distance  it  was  supported  by  a  fre 
quent  correspondence.  Before  this  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  Samuel  Thomas,  Mr.  Bull  had  spent  his 
time  entirely  in  reading  little  systems  of  divinity, 
and  had  arrived  at  so  great  a  perfection  in  that 
method  of  study,  and  was  particularly  so  thoroughly 
versed  in  Wollebiusk,  that  he  was  master  of  all  those 
objections  and  solutions  which  so  frequently  occur 
in  those  writings.  But  his  judgment  being  now 
come  to  a  greater  ripeness,  he  grew  more  and  more 
out  of  conceit  with  that  sort  of  divinity,  and  applied 
himself  to  the  reading  of  other  books,  such  as  he 
relished  better,  and  were  more  adapted  to  his  ge 
nius  ;  such  as  Hooker,  Hammond,  Taylor,  Grotius, 
Episcopius,  &c.,  with  which  his  friend,  Mr.  Samuel 
Thomas,  was  ready  to  supply  him,  though  at  the 

k  [Wollebius  was  a  professor  at  Basle,  and  wrote  a  work  called 
Compendium  Theologian  Christiana,  Amstel.  1638.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  21* 

hazard  of  his  father's  displeasure;  for  the  old  man  1653. 
had  a  watchful  eye  over  Mr.  Bull,  and  never  found 
any  of  these  books  in  his  study,  without  giving  visi 
ble  marks  of  his  anger  and  resentment:  for  being 
well  acquainted  with  his  son's  principles,  and  with 
the  intimate  correspondence  there  was  between 
them,  he  easily  guessed  from  what  quarter  he  was 
provided  with  so  much  heterodoxy,  and  would  often 
say,  "  My  son  will  corrupt  Mr.  Bull."  Thus  it 
pleased  the  good  providence  of  God  to  correct  the 
disadvantages  of  his  education,  and  by  a  favourable 
circumstance  to  strike  such  light  into  his  mind,  as 
preserved  him  from  the  bad  principles  of  those  times, 
and  directed  his  understanding  in  distinguishing 
truths  of  very  great  importance. 

VI.  Soon  after  that  he  left  Mr.  Thomas,  he  enter- He  enters 
tained  thoughts  of  going  into  holy  orders;  he  had  orders? Y 
read  enough  to  convince  him,  that  mere  presbyters 
had  no  power  to  give  him  a  commission  to  exercise 
the  sacred  function,  especially  when  the  plausible 
plea  of  necessity  could  not  be  urged,  which  yet  very 
seldom  hath  any  great  strength  in  it ;  because  when 
positive  institutions  cannot  be  had  whole  and  entire 
as  God  hath  ordained  them,  with  submission  I  speak 
it,  I  think  they  cease  to  be  necessary.  In  this  case 
Mr.  Bull  sought  out  for  an  unexceptionable  hand, 
that  his  mission  might  be  valid,  according  to  the 
practice  of  the  Christian  church  for  fifteen  hundred 
years,  which  affordeth  not  one  instance  of  presbyte- 
rian  ordination,  but  what  was  condemned  by  the 
universal  voice  of  the  catholic  church.  And  being 
thus  satisfied  from  whence  he  was  to  receive  his 
spiritual  powers,  he  applied  himself  to  Dr.  Skinner, 


£2  THE  LIFE  OF 

1653.  the  ejected  bishop  of  Oxford1,  by  whom  he  was 
~  ordained  deacon  and  priest  in  one  day.  This  suffer 
ing  prelate  had  the  courage,  even  in  those  times  of 
usurpation,  to  send  many  labourers  into  the  Lord's 
vineyard,  according  to  the  liturgy  of  the  church  of 
England,  when  the  exercising  this  his  power  was 
made  penal.  He  lived  indeed  to  be  restored  to  his 
see,  from  whence  he  was  translated  to  the  bishopric 
of  Worcester  in  1663,  and  died  full  of  years  in  1670. 
He  had  been  tutor  to  the  famous  Mr.  William  Chil- 
lingworth,  the  author  of  The  Religion  of  Pro 
testants  a  safe  Way  of  Salvation,  &c.,  and  was  one 
of  those  twelve  bishops  that  subscribed  in  1641  a 
protestation  against  the  force  that  was  used  to  their 
persons  in  attending  the  house,  and  against  the  im 
moderate  proceedings  of  the  parliament  in  their 
absence ;  for  which  they  were  impeached  of  high 
treason,  and  committed  prisoners  to  the  Tower, 
where  they  remained  till  the  bill  for  putting  them 
out  of  the  house  was  passed,  which  was  not  till  many 
months111  after.  His  lordship,  though  he  was  willing 
to  ordain  Mr.  Bull,  yet  refused  to  give  him  or  any 
others  letters  of  orders  under  his  own  hand  and  seal, 
for  this  prudential  reason ;  because  he  was  appre 
hensive  some  ill  use  might  be  made  of  them,  if  they 

1  [Robert  Skinner  was  made  bishop  of  Bristol  in  1636,  and 
translated  to  Oxford  in  1641.  When  deprived  of  his  see  he  re 
tired  to  his  rectory  of  Launton  near  Bicester  :  and  Wood  says, 
that  he  was  supposed  to  be  the  only  bishop  who  conferred  orders 
during  the  usurpation  :  and,  after  his  majesty's  return,  1 03  persons 
did  at  once  take  holy  orders  from  him  in  the  abbey  church  at 
Westminster  ;  and  very  many  frequently  in  his  respective  dioceses 
where  he  successively  sat.] 

m  [Eighteen  weeks.    Wood.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  23 

fell  into  the  hands  of  those  unjust  powers  which  1653. 
then  prevailed;  who  had  made  it  criminal  for  a~ 
bishop  to  confer  holy  orders ;  but  withal  he  assured 
him,  that  when  the  ancient  apostolical  government 
of  the  church  should  be  restored,  which  he  did  not 
question  but  a  little  time  would  bring  about,  his  let 
ters  of  orders  should  be  sent  him,  in  what  part  soever 
of  the  nation  he  then  lived,  however  it  should  please 
God  to  dispose  of  his  lordship;  which  was  accord 
ingly  punctually  complied  with,  upon  the  happy 
restoration  of  king  Charles  the  Second. 

By  this  account  it  appeareth,  that  Mr.  Bull  was  He  was  but 
but   one  and   twenty  when  he  was    made   priest n,  twemy1 
which  is  much  short  of  that  age  which  is  required  Jhen  or- 

damed. 

by  the  canons  of  the  church  from  the  candidates  of  1655. 
the  priesthood ;  but  upon  his  examination,  he  ac 
quitted  himself  so  perfectly  well,  that  though  the 
bishop  was  rightly  informed  as  to  that  circumstance, 
yet  he  was  pleased  to  say,  that  the  church  wanted 
persons  qualified  as  he  was,  and  that  he  could  not 
make  too  much  haste,  when  his  pains  and  labour 
might  be  of  such  importance ;  that  as  to  the  canons, 
they  could  not  be  observed  strictly  in  such  times  of 
difficulty  and  distress,  and  that  he  did  dispense  with 
his  want  of  canonical  age  as  much  as  in  him  lay. 


11  [This  irregularity  is  noticed  in  a  collection  of  queries,  printed 
without  date,  entitled,  Some  Queries  recommended  to  the  Con 
sideration  of  the  more  rigid  and  clamorous  Rubricians,  the  23d 
and  last  of  which  is,  "  Whether  bishop  Taylor,  bishop  Bull,  and 
"  archbishop  Sharp,  who  were  all  ordained  priests  before  the  age 
"  of  twenty-four,  and  were  allowed  to  have  cure  of  souls  in  Eng- 
"  land,  were  yet  not  clergymen  of  the  church  of  England  ?" 
Jeremy  Taylor  was  ordained  before  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  so 
was  archbishop  Usher.  See  Comber  on  Ordination,  p.  63.] 


24  THE  LIFE  OF 

l655-  And  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  considering  the 
melancholy  circumstances  the  church  was  then  in, 
that  his  lordship  received  with  open  arms  a  candi 
date,  who  was  so  well  disposed  and  qualified  to 
maintain  and  defend  her  doctrines  and  discipline, 
and  had  nothing  but  his  youth  to  be  objected 
against  him. 

This  for-         I  think  it  may  be  fairly  inferred  from  this  early 
such  times  "  dedication  of  himself  to  the  service  of  the  altar,  in  a 


nlentof  his  ^me  wnen  rebellion  and  sacrilege  rid  triumphant, 
w*1-  that  in  his  youth  and  flower  of  his  days  he  had  a 
true  relish  for  piety,  and  a  zeal  for  the  salvation  of 
souls.  The  church  of  England,  which  is,  and  that 
justly,  the  glory  of  the  Reformation,  was  then  laid  in 
the  dust  ;  she  was  ruined  under  a  pretence  of  being 
made  more  pure  and  more  perfect.  Episcopacy,  a 
divine  institution,  and  therefore  in  no  case  to  be  de 
viated  from,  was  abolished  as  antichristian  ;  our  ad 
mirable  liturgy  was  laid  aside  as  defiled  with  the 
corruptions  and  innovations  of  popery  ;  and  the 
revenues,  which  the  piety  of  our  ancestors  had  esta 
blished  for  the  maintenance  of  our  spiritual  fathers, 
were  ravenously  seized  on  by  sacrilegious  laymen, 
and  alienated  to  support  the  usurpation.  These 
discouraging  circumstances  did  not  damp  the  zeal 
of  this  servant  of  God,  but  he  engaged  in  the  service 
of  the  church  when  the  arguments  from  flesh  and 
blood  were  least  inviting.  When  men  propose  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  souls  as  the  chief  mo 
tive  in  the  choice  of  their  sacred  profession,  as  they 
want  not  the  prospect  of  riches  and  grandeur  to  in 
vite  them  to  undertake  it,  neither  are  they  terrified 
with  those  difficulties  that  lie  in  the  way  of  such  an 
important  service.  The  pilot  is  then  most  necessary, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  25 

when  the  ship  is  exposed  to  be  driven  on  rocks  and     1655. 
sands :  and  not  to  shrink  from  the  exercise  of  his 
skill  upon  such  occasions,  distinguished!  his  courage 
and  resolution,  as  well  as  his  zeal,  to  save  those  who 
are  in  the  same  bottom  with  himself. 

VII.  When  he  was  furnished  with   those   sacer- He  settles 
dotal  powers,  which  are  the  characteristic  of  a  pres-  George's 
byter,  he  embraced  the  first  opportunity  the  provi-  ™™ 
dence   of  God  offered  for  the   exercising  of  them 
according  to  his  commission.     A  small  living  near 
Bristol,  called  St.  George's0,  presenting  itself,  he  the 
rather  accepted    it,  because   the   income   was  very 
inconsiderable ;  it  being  very  likely,  that  upon  that 
account  he  would  be  suffered  to  reside  without  dis 
turbance  from  the  men  of  those  times,  who  would 
not  think  it  worth  their  pains  to  persecute  and  dis 
possess  him  for  30/.  a  year.     Before   he  settled  at 
this  place,  he  met  by  accident  with  one  of  his  god 
fathers,  Mr.  Hall,  a  clergyman,  who  acquainted  him 
with  the  declaration  his  father  had  made  when  he 
was  baptized,  which  gave  him  no  small  pleasure  and 
satisfaction,  in  that  he  had  fulfilled  the  intention  of 
his  father  from  the  bent  of  his  own  inclination  and 
free  choice,  without  having  ever  till  that  time  re 
ceived  the  least  intimation  concerning  it.     When  he 
came  to  fix  at  St.  George's,  he  found  the  parish  to 
abound  with  quakers  and  other  wild  sectaries,  who 
held  very  extravagant   opinions,  which    the  people 
there  and  in  the  adjacent  parts  were  very  ready  to 
run  into ;  but  by  his  constant  preaching  twice  every 

0  [It  is  properly  called  Easton  in  Gordano,  five  miles  from  Bris 
tol  ;  it  is  a  prebend  belonging  to  the  cathedral  of  Wells,  and  the 
vicarage  is  a  peculiar.] 


26  THE  LIFE  OF 

l655-  Lord's  day,  by  his  sound  doctrine  and  exemplary 
life,  by  his  great  charities,  (for  he  expended  more 
annually  in  relieving  the  poor  of  all  sorts  than  the 
whole  income  of  his  living  amounted  to,)  and  by  his 
prudent  behaviour,  he  gained  very  much  upon  the 
affections  of  his  parishioners,  and  was  very  instru 
mental  in  preserving  many,  and  reclaiming  others, 
from  those  pernicious  errors  which  then  were  com 
mon  among  them. 

A  little  There  was  a  petty  occurrence  which  happened  a 

which  con-  little  after  he  came  to  this  living,  which  contributed 
h7sbreputa°-  verv  mucn  to  the  establishing  his  reputation  as  a 
tion.  preacher,  in  so  disaffected  a  place  as  this  was  ;  and 
since  oftentimes  from  very  little  seeming  accidents, 
such  as  this,  there  have  been,  as  is  known  to  every 
one's  observation,  most  considerable  effects  wrought 
out ;  it  is  hoped  hence  that  the  notice  of  it  will  not 
be  thought  altogether  unuseful,  or  be  unacceptable 
for  appearing  at  first  trivial.  Now  the  matter  was 
this  :  One  Sunday  when  he  had  begun  his  sermon, 
as  he  was  turning  over  his  Bible  to  explain  some 
texts  of  Scripture  which  he  had  quoted,  it  happened 
unfortunately  (as  it  was  thought)  that  his  notes, 
contained  in  several  small  pieces  of  paper,  flew  out 
of  his  Bible  into  the  middle  of  the  church  ;  by  which 
means  there  was  instantly  raised  a  laughter  in  many 
of  his  congregation,  consisting  chiefly  of  wild  sea 
faring  persons  :  these  concluding  that  their  young 
preacher  would  now,  for  want  of  his  materials,  be 
entirely  at  a  nonplus,  were  not  a  little  pleased  ;  and 
prepared  themselves  hereupon  to  sport  at  him  with 
an  air  of  contempt,  not  considering  him  as  the  min 
ister  of  Christ  to  them  in  the  weakness  of  flesh  ; 
but  some  who  were  sober,  or  better-natured  than  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  27 

rest,  condemning  the  levity  of  those  scoffers,  with     1655. 
great  concern  gathered  them  up,  and  carried  them 
to  him   in  his   pulpit.     Mr.  Bull  took    them  ;    but, 
perceiving  most  of  the  company  there  present  to  be 
rather  inclined  to  triumph  over  him  in  that  surprise, 
and  to  insult  his  youth,  which  stood  in  need  of  such 
props,  immediately  clapped  his  notes  into  his  book 
again  and  shut  it,  not  without  a  great  presence  of 
mind,  and  then  gave  himself  the  liberty  of  discours 
ing  to   them  on  the   spot,  prosecuting  the  subject 
which  he  had  begun  ;  which  he  performed  so  very 
much  to  their  satisfaction,   that  they  who    at  first 
were  most  inclined  to  laugh  at  him,  began  to  grow 
serious  ;  and  from  despising  him,  were  at  length  so 
affected  with   his   discourse,  that  this   mightily   ad 
vanced  his  reputation  for  the  future  among  them, 
and  secured  him  the  good-will  and  esteem  of  those 
very  persons  who   had  been   so   forward    to    divert 
themselves  at  that,  which  they  apprehended  would 
have  exposed  him  to  be  a  common  derision. 


For   another    time,   while    he    was    preaching, 

.  i  ••  turbed  in 

certain  ranter,  or  qnaker,  came  into  the  clmrcn,  anahissermon 
made  a  disturbance  in  the  midst  of  his  sermon,ltyaqual 
crying  out  aloud,  George,  come  down  ;  tliou  art  a 
false  prophet  and  an  hireling  ;  upon  which  the 
parishioners,  who  were  for  the  most  part  seamen, 
and  who  loved  their  minister  exceedingly,  for  his 
great  bounty  and  hospitality  among  them,  as  well  as 
for  his  good  preaching,  fell  upon  this  poor  quaker 
with  such  fury,  as  obliged  Mr.  Bull  to  come  down 
out  of  the  pulpit  to  quiet  them,  and  to  save  him  from 
the  effects  of  their  resentment  :  so  getting  in  among 
them,  and  warding  off  the  blows  that  were  falling 
very  heavy  upon  the  fellow,  he  said  to  them,  "  Come, 


28  THE  LIFE  OF 

1655-  "  neighbours,  be  not  so  violent  against  the  poor  man, 
~  "  but  spare  him  ;  you  do  not  know  what  spirit  he  is 
"  acted  by ;  you  cannot  tell  but  that  it  may  be  phrensy 
"  in  him,  or  some  other  distemper ;  and  if  so,  the 
"  man  is  certainly  an  object  of  your  pity  and  care : 
"  however,  let  me  prevail  upon  you  to  forbear,  and 
"  hurt  him  not ;  but  let  me,  good  neighbours,  a  little 
"  argue  coolly  the  matter  with  him."  After  this 
manner  reasoning  with  them,  they  were  somewhat 
pacified,  and  were  content  to  leave  him  to  Mr.  Bull's 
management,  and  to  hear  whether  he  was  able  to 
say  any  thing  in  justification  or  excuse  of  what  he 
had  done :  so  Mr.  Bull  turned  himself  to  the  man, 
and  addressed  himself  to  him  after  this  manner : 
"  Friend,  thou  dost  call  me  a  false  prophet  and  an 
"  hireling.  Now  as  to  thy  first  charge,  prophecy 
"  doth  generally  mean  either  preaching  and  inter- 
"  preting  God's  word,  or  else  foretelling  things  to 
"  come ;  and  so  a  prophet,  either  true  or  false,  is 
"  understood  in  Scripture.  Wherefore  if  thou  dost 
"  mean  I  am  a  prophet  in  the  first  of  these  two 
"  senses,  I  readily  acknowledge  that  I  am  so,  and  a 
"  true  one  also  I  hope,  forasmuch  as  in  all  truth  and 
"  sincerity,  I  have  now  for  some  time  preached 
"  among  this  good  people  what  I  could  learn  to  be 
"  agreeable  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
"  not  failing  to  interpret  to  them  the  mind  of  God 
"  in  the  Scriptures,  without  any  other  end  but  to 
"  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and 
"  thereby  to  the  attainment  of  life  everlasting.  But, 
"  friend,  if  thou  dost  call  me  a  prophet,  and  a  false 
"  prophet,  from  my  foretelling  things  to  come,  I 
"  then  appeal  to  my  parishioners  here  present, 
"  whether  I  ever  once  pretended  to  this  manner  of 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  29 

"  prophecy  either  in  my  sermons  or  in  my  discourses  1655. 
"  with  them :  and  so  in  this  sense  I  can  be  no  false 
"  prophet,  having  never  deceived  any  one  by  pre- 
"  tences  of  this  nature.  And  as  to  the  other  charges 
"  against  me,  that  I  am  an  hireling,  I  appeal  again 
"  to  these  here  present  and  that  know  me,  whether 
"  they  can  say  that  I  have  preached  among  them 
"  for  the  sake  of  gain  or  filthy  lucre,  and  whether  I 
"  have  not  on  the  contrary  been  ready  on  all  occa- 
"  sions  to  serve  and  assist  them  to  the  utmost  of  my 
"  power,  and  to  communicate  as  freely  as  I  receive." 
Upon  which  the  people,  being  touched  with  a  sense 
of  gratitude  to  this  minister  of  God  for  his  extraor 
dinary  kindness  and  constant  bounty  towards  them, 
but  not  mindful  enough  of  that  sacred  regard  which 
was  due  to  the  place  where  they  were  met,  and  to 
the  occasion  which  brought  them  together,  perceiv 
ing  the  silly  enthusiast  at  a  perfect  nonplus,  and 
not  able  to  speak  a  word  of  sense  in  his  own  defence, 
fell  upon  him  a  second  time  with  such  violence,  that 
had  not  Mr.  Bull  bustled  very  much  among  them, 
and  by  great  entreaties  prevailed  upon  them  to  spare 
him,  and  to  lead  and  shut  him  out  of  the  church, 
they  would  have  worried  him  upon  the  spot.  After 
which  Mr.  Bull  went  up  again  into  his  pulpit,  and 
finished  his  sermon. 

VIII.  Besides  the  ordinary  duties  of  his  function,  Thcmethod 

he  took  in 

which  he  constantly  performed,  the  method  he  took  governing 
in  governing  this  parish  contributed  very  much  to 
the  welfare  of  the  people  committed  to  his  charge, 
and  answered  extremely  the  ends  of  his  ministry. 
He  did  not  content  himself  only  with  preaching  to 
his  flock  on  Sundays,  and  with  going  to  the  sick, 


30  THE  LIFE  OF 

when  their  languishing  condition  required  spiritual 
comfort  and  assistance ;  but  he  visited  all  his  pa 
rishioners,  rich  and  poor,  without  distinction,  at  their 
own  houses,  in  a  certain  compass  of  time ;  not  to 
gratify  their  civil  invitations,  or  his  own  diversion, 
but  to  be  serviceable  to  them  in  matters  of  the 
greatest  importance,  the  salvation  of  their  souls. 
And  therefore  upon  these  occasions  the  time  was 
not  trifled  away  in  empty  talk,  but  his  discourse 
was  suited  to  the  several  exigencies  of  those  he 
conversed  with.  Where  he  found  people  neglected 
in  their  education,  and  ignorant  in  the  fundamentals 
of  religion,  those  he  instructed  by  explaining  to  them 
what  was  necessary  to  be  believed  and  practised  in 
order  to  their  salvation.  Where  the  ground  was 
overrun  with  weeds,  and  some  good  principles  were 
blended  with  false  doctrines  and  pernicious  errors, 
there  he  discovered  the  dangerous  consequences  of 
such  tenets,  and  shewed  how  inconsistent  they  were 
with  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  the  belief  of  all  ortho 
dox  Christians.  Where  he  perceived  that  men  laid 
all  the  stress  upon  a  right  faith,  and,  provided  they 
secured  that  part  of  the  duty,  were  too  apt  to  in 
dulge  themselves  in  some  unchristian  practices ; 
those  he  admonished  with  all  that  freedom  which 
becometh  a  faithful  pastor,  assuring  them,  that  with 
out  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.  Those 
who  laboured  under  any  affliction  received  from 
him  advice  and  comfort,  and  were  instructed  how 
to  bear  them,  and  how  to  make  a  right  use  of  them. 
Those  who  were  oppressed  with  any  doubts  and 
scruples  in  their  Christian  course  had  proper  reme 
dies  applied  to  resolve  them,  and  to  free  the  persons 
from  that  unquietness  which  possessed  them.  Where 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  31 

the  pleasant  path  of  virtue  was  steadily  pursued,  1655. 
those  were  exhorted  to  persevere  and  hold  out  to 
the  end,  because  in  due  time  they  should  reap,  if 
they  fainted  not.  But  where  vice  and  wickedness 
were  become  habitual,  those  were  sharply  rebuked, 
in  order  to  reclaim  them  from  those  sins  which 
would  infallibly  be  their  ruin,  without  a  speedy  and 
hearty  repentance.  By  these  means  he  became  ac 
quainted  with  the  state  of  their  souls,  and  was 
thereby  the  better  enabled  to  suit  his  discourses  in 
public  to  the  several  wants  and  grievances  of  his 
people ;  and  from  this  practice  he  further  reaped 
another  advantage,  that  he  thoroughly  understood 
the  necessities  of  those  that  were  really  poor,  whose 
hard  circumstances  he  constantly  relieved,  either 
from  his  own  charity,  or  from  the  bounty  of  those 
who  supplied  him  upon  all  such  occasions. 

There  was  hardly  a  family  in  the  parish  which  The  parish 
was  not  furnished  with  great  store  of  antinomian  wjth  anti- 
books,  such  doctrines  prevailing  very  much  in  those  |]°"k*a 
times,  which  they  read  often  and  valued  much  ;  and 
therefore  in  these  visits  he  took  particular  care  to 
examine  what  books  they  were  most  conversant  in ; 
and  when  he  found  what  he  had  reason  to  suspect, 
he  constantly  warned  them  against  the  poison  they 
were  so  familiar  with.  By  this  method,  and  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  his  endeavours,  he  quickly 
convinced  his  parishioners  of  the  false  reasonings 
that  were  contained  in  such  antinomian  books,  and 
how  contrary  the  tenets  maintained  in  them  were  to 
the  holy  Scriptures,  and  how  inconsistent  with  that 
scheme  of  salvation  which  the  blessed  Jesus  had 
proposed  to  all  his  followers.  There  is  one  circum 
stance  in  these  visits  which  must  not  be  forgot, 


32  THE  LIFE  OF 

l655-  because  it  is  very  proper  for  the  imitation  of  such 
incumbents,  who  have  any  parishioners  that  keep  at 
a  distance  from  their  communion.  When  Mr.  Bull 
found  any  person,  that  either  never  came  to  the 
parish  church,  or,  after  having  frequented  it,  with 
drew  to  some  other  communion,  his  constant  prac 
tice  was  to  inquire  who  had  seduced  them,  and 
desired  to  know  their  names,  in  order  to  summon 
them  to  a  conference  in  the  presence  of  the  party 
who  had  been  prevailed  upon  to  absent  from  the 
parish  church.  These  challenges  were  frequently 
accepted ;  for  Mr.  Bull  being  young,  it  was  not 
imagined  that  he  was  able  to  maintain  and  defend  a 
cause  against  persons  of  riper  age,  and  who  had  been 
long  versed  in  the  controversy  ;  but  by  the  quick 
ness  and  readiness  of  his  parts,  and  by  his  close  way 
of  maintaining  an  argument,  which  was  very  natural 
to  him,  as  I  have  already  observed,  he  found  his 
account  in  these  conferences,  and  had  thereby  very 
great  success  in  recovering  his  wandering  sheep.  As 
to  the  younger  sort  of  people,  his  custom  was  to 
address  to  them  in  public  as  well  as  private,  and 
therefore  he  would  pitch  upon  some  week-day  to 
preach  to  them  before  he  administered  the  holy 
eucharist,  that  such  as  had  not  yet  been  admitted  to 
that  divine  ordinance  might  be  thoroughly  instructed 
in  the  nature  and  design  of  the  Christian  sacrifice, 
and  might  be  taught  what  preparation  was  necessary 
to  qualify  them  to  appear  at  the  holy  altar. 
The  excel-  it  must  be  allowed,  that  these  rules  by  which  he 

lency  of 

Mr.  Bull's  managed  himself  in   the  government  of  his  parish 

method,  i.ii  T  11 

were  very  admirable,  and  exceeding  proper,  by  the 
assistance  of  God's  grace,  to  make  his  labours  effec 
tual  for  the  good  of  souls,  and  very  fit  for  the  imita- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  33 

tion  of  the  parochial  clergy,  where  their  cures  will  1655. 
admit  of  such  a  particular  application,  and  where 
they  are  not  yet  fallen  into  such  measures.  But 
what  seemeth  wonderful  to  me  is,  that  a  young  man 
of  one  and  twenty  (for  Mr.  Bull  did  not  exceed  that 
age,  when  he  first  became  incumbent  of  the  living 
of  St.  George's)  should  be  able  to  frame  so  good  a 
scheme  for  his  own  conduct,  and  should  have  so 
much  industry  and  zeal,  as  to  put  it  in  execution. 
Such  methods  as  these,  and  such  manly  thoughts, 
are  usually  the  result  of  experience  and  riper  years, 
and  seldom  occur  to  those  that  just  enter  upon  the 
exercise  of  their  holy  function.  By  this  we  may  fairly 
conclude,  that  Mr.  Bull  was  a  man  of  no  ordinary 
capacity,  but  had  a  genius  for  that  sacred  office  he 
had  espoused,  and  had  strong  impressions  of  his  duty 
in  the  flower  of  his  youth,  and  was  firmly  bent  to 
spare  no  pains  that  were  necessary  to  discharge  it 
to  the  honour  of  God  and  the  good  of  souls. 

IX.  The  iniquity  of  the  times  would  not  bear  the  The  prayers 
constant  and  regular  use  of  the  Liturgy ;  to  supply  £$£. 
therefore  that  misfortune,  Mr.  Bull  formed  all  the 
devotions  he  offered  up  in  public,  while  he  continued 
minister  of  this  place,  out  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  which  did  not  fail  to  supply  him  with  fit 
matter  and  proper  words  upon  all  those  occasions 
that  required  him  to  apply  to  the  throne  of  grace 
for  a  supply  of  the  wants  of  his  people.  He  had  the 
example  of  one  of  the  brightest  lights  of  that  age, 
the  judicious  Dr.  Sanderson,  to  justify  him  in  this 
practice ;  and  his  manner  of  performing  the  public 
service  was  with  so  much  seriousness  and  devotion, 
with  so  much  fervour  and  ardency  of  affection,  and 

D 


34  THE  LIFE  OF 

1655.    with   so   powerful  an   emphasis   in  every  part,  that 

^  they  who  were  most  prejudiced  against  the  Liturgy, 

did  not  scruple  to  commend  Mr.  Bull  as  a  person 

that  prayed  by  the  Spirit,  though  at  the  same  time 

they  railed  at  the  Common  Prayer  as  a   beggarly 

element,  and  as  a  carnal  performance. 

Aninstance      A  particular  instance  of  this  happened  to  him 

of  the  Com-  J  .    .  ,1.11 

mon  Prayer  while  he  was  minister  of  St. (jreorge  s,  which  because 
mired  by  it  sheweth  how  valuable  the  Liturgy  is  in  itself,  and 
ers  when11  ~ wna*  unreasonable  prejudices  are  sometimes  taken 
used  t,y  Up  against  it,  the  reader  will  not,  I  believe,  think  it 
unworthy  to  be  related.  He  was  sent  for  to  baptize 
the  child  of  a  dissenter  in  his  parish ;  upon  which 
occasion,  he  made  use  of  the  Office  of  Baptism,  as 
prescribed  by  the  church  of  England,  which  he  had 
got  entirely  by  heart ;  and  he  went  through  it  with 
so  much  readiness  and  freedom,  and  yet  with  so  much 
gravity  and  devotion,  and  gave  that  life  and  spirit  to 
all  that  he  delivered,  that  the  whole  audience  was 
extremely  affected  with  his  performance ;  and  not 
withstanding  that  he  used  the  sign  of  the  cross,  yet, 
they  were  so  ignorant  of  the  Offices  of  the  church, 
that  they  did  not  thereby  discover  that  it  was  the 
Common  Prayer.  But  after  that  he  had  concluded 
that  holy  action,  the  father  of  the  child  returned 
him  a  great  many  thanks,  intimating  at  the  same 
time,  with  how  much  greater  edification  they  prayed, 
who  entirely  depended  upon  the  Spirit  of  God  for 
His  assistance  in  their  extempore  effusions,  than 
those  did  who  tied  themselves  up  to  premeditated 
forms ;  and  that  if  he  had  not  made  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  that  badge  of  popery,  as  he  called  it,  nobody 
could  have  formed  the  least  objection  against  his 
excellent  prayers.  Upon  which  Mr.  Bull,  hoping 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  35 

to  recover  him  from  his  ill-grounded  prejudices,  ,655. 
shewed  him  the  Office  of  Baptism  in  the  Liturgy,  ~ 
wherein  was  contained  every  prayer  which  he  had 
offered  up  to  God  on  that  occasion  ;  which,  with 
farther  arguments  that  he  then  urged,  so  effectually 
wrought  upon  the  good  man  and  his  whole  family, 
that  they  always  after  that  time  frequented  the 
parish  church,  and  never  more  absented  themselves 
from  Mr.  Bull's  communion.  From  whence  we 
may  reasonably  conclude,  that  as  a  mistaken  zeal 
may  throw  contempt  upon  what  justly  deserves  to 
be  admired ;  so  also  that  gravity,  seriousness,  and 
devotion,  in  reading  the  prayers,  are  necessary  to 
secure  that  respect  to  the  Liturgy  which  its  own 
excellency  requireth  from  us. 

While  he  remained  minister  of  this  parish,  theAneminent 
providence  of  God  was  pleased  to  appear  wonder-  waa"gpre-ie 
fully  in  his  preservation;  for  all  those  second  causes frl0™d 
that  concur  to  protect  us  from  any  danger  that 
threateneth  us,  must  be  attributed  to  that  all-wise 
and  powerful  hand  that  overrules  them.  The  lodg 
ings  he  had  taken  in  this  place  were  contiguous  to  a 
powdermill,  where  he  pursued  his  studies  with  great 
assiduity  for  several  months ;  till  the  gentleman  of 
the  parish,  Mr.  Morgan,  a  person  of  unblemished 
loyalty  and  affection  to  the  church,  and  his  lady, 
daughter  to  sir  William  Master  of  Cirencester, 
making  him  a  visit,  they  observed  to  him  the  danger 
he  was  exposed  to  by  continuing  longer  in  those 
lodgings,  and  in  a  very  friendly  manner  invited  him 
to  their  own  house,  where  they  assured  him  of  all 
that  accommodation  which  was  necessary  and  agree 
able  to  him.  He  modestly  for  some  time  declined 
this  kind  offer;  but  their  repeated  importunity  at 

D  2 


36  THE  LIFE  OF 

1655.    last   prevailed,   and    lie    accepted    of  that    obliging 


proposal,  which  was  the  means,  under  God,  of  sav 
ing  his  life ;  for  not  many  days  after  his  removal  to 
Mr.  Morgan's  the  mill  was  blown  up,  and  his  apart 
ment  with  it,  on  such  a  day  and  hour  as  he  had 
always  been  in  his  study  from  the  time  he  first  came 
to  that  place.  So  that  he  must  inevitably  have 
perished,  if  his  deliverance  had  not  been  wrought 
out  for  him  after  this  unexpected  manner.  This 
singular  goodness  of  God,  which  interposed  in  his 
behalf,  was  received  with  all  thankfulness ;  and  a 
life  thus  preserved  quickened  his  endeavours  in  pur 
suing  the  true  purposes  of  living. 

He  goes  to  During  his  being  at  St.  George's,  and  some  think 
for  a  year  or  two  before,  his  constant  custom  was 
to  make  a  journey  once  a  year  to  the  urn' versity  of 
Oxford,  where  he  remained  about  two  months  to 
enjoy  the  pleasure  and  advantage  of  the  public  libra 
ries.  It  is  a  great  misfortune  to  a  young  clergyman, 
when  he  is  confined  to  a  country  cure,  to  be  destitute 
of  such  books  as  are  necessary  to  enable  him  to  make 
any  considerable  advance  in  his  studies  of  divinity, 
to  which  other  parts  of  learning  contribute  their  aid 
and  assistance,  and  therefore  consequently  are  not 
to  be  neglected.  And  if  the  solid  foundation  of  use 
ful  knowledge  is  not  laid,  and  the  habit  of  studying 
acquired,  while  men  are  in  the  prime  of  their  days, 
they  seldom  make  any  progress  that  will  be  able  to 
distinguish  them  from  persons  of  ordinary  attain 
ments.  But  Mr.  Bull,  being  sensible  of  what  con 
sequence  it  was  to  season  his  youth  with  all  that 
learning  which  he  was  then  capable  of  attaining, 
took  the  method  I  now  mention  to  supply  the  want 
of  a  good  private  library ;  and  by  the  great  profi- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  37 

ciency  he  made,  it  very  sufficiently  answered  what  1655- 
he  proposed  from  it ;  for  here  he  nourished  his  mind 
with  fresh  supplies  of  learning,  and  having  nothing 
to  distract  his  thoughts,  or  to  interrupt  his  studies, 
we  may  reasonably  suppose,  that  the  advances  he 
made  in  those  two  months  were  much  greater  than 
he  could  attain  in  double  the  time  at  his  own  cure, 
where  the  constant  duties  of  his  parish  challenged  a 
large  share,  and  where  the  want  of  books  hindered 
him  from  employing  his  leisure  to  the  greatest  ad 
vantage.  Besides,  he  reaped  another  benefit  from 
this  excursion,  that  the  exercise  of  the  journey  con 
tributed  to  the  preservation  of  the  health  of  his 
body,  which  by  a  constant  sedentary  life  is  exposed 
to  many  growing  infirmities.  In  his  way  to  Oxford, 
and  in  his  return,  he  always  made  a  visit  to  sir  Wil 
liam  Master  of  Cirencester,  where  he  was  constantly 
received,  as  a  very  welcome  guest,  with  great  civi 
lity  and  kindness.  He  usually  upon  these  occasions 
preached  for  the  incumbent  of  that  place,  Mr.  Alex 
ander  Gregory,  whereby  was  laid  the  foundation  of 
such  an  acquaintance  and  friendship  between  them,  as 
was  afterwards  improved  to  so  great  an  intimacy,  that 
in  some  time  Mr.  Bull  married  one  of  his  daughters. 

X.  In  the  change  of  his  condition  Mr.  Bull  seemed  Mr.  Bull 

0  ft  marries 

to  have  a  regard  chiefly  to  the  character  of  the  per- Mrs.  Uri 
son  he  chose  for  the  companion  of  his  life,  and  pre-^.y'ie' 
ferred  the  qualifications  of  piety  and  virtue  to  those 
temporal  advantages,  which  for  the  most  part  in 
fluence  the  minds  of  men  upon  such  occasions.    And 
as  this  method  ought  to  be  pursued  by  all  those  that 
would  build  their  happiness  upon  a  sure  foundation 


38  THE  LIFE  OF 

1655-8.  in  a  married  state,  so  it  appears  still  more  necessary 
in  a  clergyman,  because  not  only  himself,  but  his 
family,  ought  to  be  a  pattern  to  the  whole  parish. 
For  he  hath  solemnly  promised,  in  the  presence  of 
God,  to  apply  himself  diligently  not  only  to  frame 
and  fashion  himself,  but  his  family  also,  according 
to  the  doctrine  of  Christ ;  and  to  make  not  only 
himself,  but  them  also,  as  much  as  in  him  lieth, 
wholesome  examples  to  the  flock  of  Christ.  Now 
what  means  can  be  so  fitly  adapted  to  this  end  as  a 
prudent  mistress  of  a  family,  eminent  in  those  vir 
tues  which  are  the  peculiar  ornament  of  the  female 
sex,  such  as  devotion  and  purity,  meekness  and  mo 
desty,  mercifulness  and  humility  ;  to  which  may  be 
added,  that  gravity  of  garb,  and  decency  of  dress, 
which  in  a  particular  manner  adorn  the  wife  of  a 
clergyman,  who  will  do  honour  to  her  husband,  and 
rise  in  the  esteem  of  others,  the  more  she  keepeth  at 
a  distance  from  the  vanity  and  gayety  of  the  age  ? 

The  appearance  of  these  Christian  and  proper  en 
dowments  for  the  family  of  a  priest,  determined  Mr. 
Bull  to  conclude  a  marriage  with  Mrs.  Bridget  Gre 
gory,  daughter  of  Mr.  Alexander  Gregory,  under 
whose  care  she  was  educated  with  great  modesty 
and  sobriety.  They  were  joined  together  in  holy 
matrimony  by  Mr.  William  Master,  vicar  of  Preston, 
according  to  the  form  prescribed  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  the  use  of  which  was  then  forbid 
den  under  a  great  penalty.  But  as  Mr.  Bull  had  a 
particular  regard  to  our  excellent  Liturgy,  in  those 
times  when  it  was  the  fashion  to  despise  it;  so  he 
had  not  a  less  esteem  for  the  constitution  of  the 
church ;  for  in  order  to  render  so  serious  an  action, 


racter. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  39 

as  matrimony  is,  still  more  solemn,  he  pitched  upon     1658. 
Ascension-day  for  the  solemnizing  of  it,  which,  in~ 
1658,  was  the  twentieth  of  May. 

The  success  of  such  an  important  action  answered  Her  ( -ha 
th  e  care  and  caution  that  was  used  in  bringing  it  to 
pass ;  for  Mrs.  Bull  proved  in  all  respects  a  fit  con 
sort  for  a  clergyman,  as  being  in  her  own  nature 
sufficiently  provident,  and  yet  well  disposed  to  all 
manner  of  good  works,  out  of  a  true  principle  of 
love  to  God  and  goodness.  Her  attire  was  very 
plain  and  grave  :  her  chief  diversion  was  the  care  of 
her  family,  and  her  main  ambition  was  to  please  her 
husband,  to  whom  she  was  always  a  complying  and 
obedient  wife.  Yet  her  piety  was  not  confined  to 
her  own  home,  but  extended  itself  to  the  whole 
parish  wherever  she  lived :  for  by  the  help  of  her 
closet,  and  skill  in  surgery,  she  made  herself  ex 
tremely  useful  and  necessary  upon  all  occasions,  and 
was  very  much  beloved,  especially  by  those  of  the 
meaner  sort.  These  advantages  she  improved  to  the 
best  purposes;  for  by  these  means  she  was  highly 
instrumental  with  the  people  of  Avening,  a  living 
which  Mr.  Bull  was  afterwards  preferred  to,  espe 
cially  those  of  her  own  sex,  to  lay  aside  their  preju 
dices  against  the  Common  Prayer,  to  bring  their 
children  to  church  to  receive  public  baptism,  which 
they  had  not  been  used  to  do  for  many  years  before, 
and  to  return  thanks  to  God  after  childbirth,  which 
had  been  discontinued  for  some  time  in  that  parish. 
Such  was  her  charity,  that  she  not  only  distributed 
her  own  alms  with  great  liberality  and  discretion, 
but  would  frequently  put  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
in  mind  of  their  duty  ;  that  the  sick  and  aged  might 
not  want  such  supplies  as  they  were  obliged  to  fur- 


40  THE  LIFE  OF 

1658.  nish,  and  the  necessity  of  the  indigent  required.  And 
such  was  her  concern  for  the  souls  of  her  neighbours, 
that  when  her  husband's  infirmities  made  him,  upon 
occasions,  unable  to  visit  the  sick,  and  that  the  cu 
rate  was  accidentally  from  home,  she  would  procure 
this  assistance,  when  to  be  had,  from  others;  and 
her  worthy  son-in-law  Mr.  Archdeacon  Stephens  well 
knows,  that  he  seldom  went  to  pay  his  duty  at  her 
house,  but  she  would  engage  him  to  go  along  with 
her  to  visit  the  sick,  and  to  pray  and  discourse  with 
them.  They  were  man  and  wife  above  fifty  years  P  ; 
and  she  is  yet  living  at  Brecknock  1 ;  the  people  of 
which  place  were  so  kind  as  to  send  a  message  to 
her  on  purpose,  after  the  bishop's  death,  to  signify 
their  earnest  desire  and  request,  that  she  would 
come  and  spend  the  remainder  of  her  days  among 
them ;  and  though  solicited  by  some  of  her  relations 
to  live  with  them,  yet  she  complied  with  this  oblig 
ing  proposal,  not  so  much  from  an  inclination  to  live 
at  Brecknock,  as  to  die  there,  being  determined  to 
be  buried  near  her  deceased  husband,  who  was  there 
interred ;  and  to  this  purpose  the  ground  remains 
still  unpaved  by  her  order,  who  daily  waiteth  for 
her  dissolution.  She  brought  Mr.  Bull  five  sons  and 
six  daughters1",  and  so  proved  a  fruitful  as  well  as  a 
provident  and  obedient  wife,  which  exactly  answered 
the  prayer  of  her  wedding-ring,  which  was,  Bene 
parere,  parere,  parare  det  mihi  Dem. 

P  [Fifty-two  years.] 

i'  [That  is,  when  this  Life  was  begun  :  before  it  was  ended  she 
had  died;  as  is  mentioned  by  Nelson  when  speaking  of  the  inter 
ment  of  bishop  Bull.  She  died  Nov.  \6,  1712,  aged  75.] 

r  [Jones,  the  historian  of  Brecknockshire,  says  two  daugh 
ters.] 


DH.  GEORGE  BULL.  41 

XL  About  this  year,  1658,  he  was  presented  to  1658. 
the  rectory  of  Suddington8  St.  Mary,  near  Cirences-  He  was  pr<T- 
ter  in  Gloucestershire,  which  being  a  living  under  Suddington 
value,  was  in  the  gift  of  the  keeper  of  the  seals  for St<  Mary's> 
the  time  being,  and  consequently  at  the  disposal  of 
those  who  at  that  time  were  no  friends  to  the  church 
of  England ;  and  yet  Mr.  Bull  got  the  presentation, 
not  only  without  any  mean  application  to  the  un 
lawful  powers  then  in  possession,  but  very  honestly 
and  honourably;  the  manner  whereof  was  thus:  the 
lady  Pool,  who  at  that  time  lived  at  Cirencester,  as 
lady  of  the  manor  of  Suddington,  claimed  a  right  of 
presenting  to  that  living;  and  having  a  respect  for 
Mr.  Gregory,  whose  daughter  Mr.  Bull  had  married, 
and  a  much  greater  for  Mr.  Bull  himself  afterwards, 
as  appeared  by  making  him  her  executor,  she  offered 
Mr.  Bull  the  presentation,  which  he  accepted  purely 
upon  her  right ;  but  he  had  certainly  lost  it  if  Mr. 
Stone  of  Cirencester,  a  particular  friend  of  Mr.  Gre 
gory's,  had  not  taken  out  the  broad  seal  without 
Mr.  Bull's  knowledge  or  privity ;  which  he  did  upon 
this  occasion.  A  clergyman,  who  knew  that  Mr. 
Bull  had  not  a  good  title,  endeavoured  to  get  the 
broad  seal  for  his  living;  which  he  had  certainly 
succeeded  in,  if  Mr.  Stone  had  not  been  concerned 
in  the  presentations  ;  for  when  that  person  addressed 
to  Mr.  Stone  for  that  purpose,  he  told  him  that  there 
was  a  minister  lately  settled  at  Suddington  whose 
name  was  Bull;  to  which  the  party  replied,  that 
though  he  was  in  possession,  yet  he  wanted  the 
legal  title.  Upon  this  Mr.  Stone  acquainted  him, 
that  though  he  did  not  personally  know  Mr.  Bull, 

[s  Or  Siddington.] 


42  THE  LIFE  OF 

1658.  yet  he  was  not  a  stranger  to  his  character;  and 
~  having  heard  that  he  had  married  a  daughter  of  a 
good  friend  of  his,  if  he  had  not  a  good  title,  he 
would  help  him  to  one  ;  and  so  took  out  the  broad 
seal  for  Mr.  Bull,  and  sent  it  to  Mr.  Gregory,  and 
at  the  same  time  gave  him  an  account,  how  much 
danger  his  son-in-law  had  been  in  ;  and  all  this  Mr. 
Stone  did  gratis,  out  of  a  great  regard  and  esteem 
for  Mr.  Gregory,  which  the  providence  of  God  made 
use  of  for  Mr.  Bull's  security. 

l659-         In  the  year  1659,  the  nation  began   to  be  very 

I  Ic  W3.S 

made  privy  sensible  of  the  misery  they  had  long  groaned  under, 
sign  of  a"   anc^  were  very  earnest  to  relieve  themselves  from 


oppression,  which  had  so  long  prevailed  among 
them  ;  and  there  was  at  that  time  a  general  disposi 
tion  all  over  the  kingdom  to  concert  measures  for 
the  king's  restoration.  There  were  very  few  coun 
ties  in  England,  where  there  was  not  a  formed  un 
dertaking  by  the  most  powerful  men  of  the  county, 
to  possess  themselves  of  some  considerable  place  that 
might  be  serviceable  to  so  good  a  purpose.  Several 
gentlemen  in  Mr.  Bull's  neighbourhood  had  frequent 
meetings  to  consult  how  they  might  contribute  their 
share  of  advice  and  strength  towards  settling  the 
nation  upon  a  right  foundation,  by  restoring  the  heir 
of  the  kingdom  to  the  throne  of  his  ancestors  :  and 
Mr.  Bull  was  at  that  time  so  well  esteemed  for  his 
loyalty  and  prudence,  that  the  gentlemen  admitted 
him  into  their  secret,  and  had  that  confidence  in  his 
wise  management,  as  well  as  in  his  good  dispositions 
to  the  church  of  England,  and  the  royal  family,  that 
they  fixed  upon  his  house  at  Suddington  for  one  of 
the  places  of  their  meeting.  And  accordingly  we 
find  from  the  history  of  those  times,  that  in  July 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  43 

that  year  a  general  rendezvous  was  designed  through-  1659. 
out  England,  of  all  who  would  declare  for  the  king,  ~ 
there  having  been  commissions  in  every  county,  di 
rected  to  six  or  seven  known  men,  with  authority 
to  them  to  choose  one  to  command  in  chief  in  that 
county,  till  they  should  make  a  conjunction  with 
other  forces  who  had  a  superior  commission  from 
the  king.  But  through  the  permission  of  divine 
Providence,  this  undertaking  was  disappointed,  and 
sir  George  Booth,  who  was  the  only  person  among 
many  that  were  engaged  that  made  a  successful  at 
tempt  in  seizing  upon  Chester,  was  in  a  few  days 
defeated,  and  himself  made  a  prisoner. 

Upon  the  restoration,  Mr.  Bull  frequently  preached     1660. 
at  Cirencester,  where  there  was  a  populous  and  large  i,,g  ^ct ' 


congregation;  and  he  was  the  better  able  to 
this  assistance  to  his  father-in-law  Mr.  Gregory,  who casion  of  u- 
by  his  great  age  and  infirmities  was  disabled  from 
performing  the  duties  of  his  function,  because  his 
parish  lay  in  that  neighbourhood.  Here  his  ser 
mons  gave  that  general  satisfaction,  that  upon  a  va 
cancy  in  that  cure,  the  people  were  very  solicitous 
to  procure  for  him  the  presentation ;  but  they  could 
not  prevail  upon  him  to  consent  to  the  endeavours 
they  were  making  to  that  purpose ;  the  business  of 
it  was  so  great,  by  reason  of  the  largeness  of  the 
parish,  that  he  was  discouraged  from  accepting  this 
testimony  of  their  kindness  and  respect  towards  him. 
The  choice  of  the  subjects  which  he  discoursed  upon 
at  that  place,  and  in  that  conjuncture  of  public  af 
fairs,  were  so  very  seasonable,  that  they  had  a  vi 
sible  good  effect  upon  the  congregation,  and  made 
such  a  deep  impression,  that  they  are  remembered 
by  some  persons  even  to  this  day.  His  design  was 


44  THE  LIFE  OF 

1660.  to  convince  the  people  of  the  necessity  of  a  decent 
behaviour  in  the  house  of  God,  as  well  as  of  the  re 
ligious  observation  of  the  Lord's  day,  which  he  ex 
plained  and  pressed  in  several  sermons,  from  Levit. 
xix.  30.  Ye  shall  keep  my  sabbaths,  and  reverence 
my  sanctuary :  I  am  the  Lord.  How  proper  such 
applications  were  then  to  the  people,  we  may  collect 
from  the  posture  of  affairs  in  which  we  then  were ; 
for  the  swarms  of  sectaries,  which  overran  the  nation 
in  the  times  of  the  great  rebellion,  had  carried  their 
hypocrisy  so  high,  that  upon  the  restoration,  some 
men  thought  they  could  not  recede  too  far  from  the 
behaviour  and  practice  of  those  persons,  who  had 
made  religion  a  cloak  for  so  many  villanies.  This 
was  apt  to  expose  men  to  the  other  extreme,  and 
inclined  them  to  think  every  appearance  of  devotion 
was  puritanical.  So  that  nothing  could  be  more  pro 
per  than  to  guard  people's  minds  from  the  tempta 
tions  to  which  they  were  liable,  and  by  proper  argu 
ments  to  enable  them  to  resist  what  was  urged 
against  some  things  that  were  serious  and  devout, 
under  the  pretence  of  their  being  fanatical.  For 
though  hypocrisy  and  profaneness  will  both  prove 
destructive  to  those  who  indulge  them  in  their  prac 
tice  ;  yet  barefaced  irreligion  is  most  pernicious  to 
the  public. 

1662.        xil.  In  the  year  1662,  Mr.  Bull  was  presented 

He  was  pre 
sented  to     to  the  vicarage  of  Suddington  St.  Peter,  by  the  then 

-  lord  chancellor  the  earl  of  Clarendon,  at  the  request 
' e*  and  application  of  his  constant  patron  and  worthy 
diocesan,   Dr.  Nicholson,   who  was  made  bishop  of 
Gloucester  upon  the  restoration,  and  who  had  all 
that  merit  which  was  necessary  to  fill  so  great  a  sta- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  45 

tion  in  the  church  to  the  best  advantage,  if  his  stea-  1662. 
diness  to  her  doctrines  and  discipline,  in  her  most 
afflicted  state,  had  not  made  it  also  reasonable  that 
he  should  have  had  his  share  in  her  prosperity.  This 
vicarage,  which  was  but  mean  in  itself,  (for  the  yearly 
value  did  not  amount  to  above  251.)  yet  was  of 
some  advantage  to  Mr.  Bull,  because  it  lay  conti 
guous  to  the  rectory  of  the  same  name,  of  which  he 
was  then  in  possession;  and  it  was  equally  conve 
nient  to  the  parishioners  of  both  parishes  to  come  to 
either  of  the  churches,  in  which  he  thought  fit  to 
officiate ;  so  that  he  sometimes  preached  in  one,  and 
sometimes  in  the  other.  The  income  of  both  these 
livings  together  did  not  rise  to  above  100/.  a  year, 
clear  of  taxes ;  so  that  if  there  was  not  much  addi 
tion  to  his  labour,  there  was  also  no  great  increase 
of  his  revenue.  But  Mr.  Bull  had  a  farther  prospect 
in  the  enjoying  these  two  livings,  than  the  gratify 
ing  his  own  interest ;  for  by  this  means  he  purposed 
to  get  them  united  for  the  future,  and  to  have  them 
put  under  the  same  grant;  which  he  thought  would 
very  well  answer  the  pains  he  took  to  compass  it, 
and  might  be  a  very  good  piece  of  service  to  the 
church.  For  as  they  were  not  too  large  for  one 
man's  care,  both  parishes  not  containing  above  thirty 
families,  so  by  this  union  it  might  be  reasonably  sup 
posed,  that  a  person  might  be  expected  better  quali 
fied  for  both  when  they  were  joined  together,  than 
could  be  hoped  for,  when  they  were  separated,  for 
either.  But  the  great  charge  of  consolidating  these 
two  churches  by  act  of  parliament  prevented  the 
success  of  his  attempt ;  though  by  the  consent  of  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  and  the  parishioners,  they  were 
united  into  one  congregation  ;  and  he  became  thereby 


46  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662.    go  far  a  benefactor  to  his  successor,  that  both  livings 


were  granted  to  him  at  the  same  time,  and  it  is  pro 
bable  they  will  be  granted  together  for  the  future. 

When  he  first  came  to  the  rectory  of  Sudclington, 
lie  began  to  be  more  open  in  the  use  of  the  Liturgy 
of  the  church  of  England ;  and  it  was  next  to  im 
possible  but  that  it  should  be  liked  and  approved  by 
every  one  that  heard  him  officiate :  for  he  had  a 
most  excellent  talent  in  performing  the  whole  ser 
vice  ;  and  he  was  to  that  degree  perfect  in  it,  that 
I  never  yet  heard  him  equalled  by  any  one.  His 
whole  deportment  was  grave  and  serious,  and  had 
withal  an  air  of  that  authority  which  belonged  to 
his  function ;  his  pronunciation  was  distinct  and  au 
dible,  and  yet  natural  and  unaffected ;  he  went 
through  every  part  of  the  service  with  that  particu 
lar  devotion  that  belongs  to  it.  He  read  the  holy 
Scriptures  with  such  leisure,  and  with  such  exact 
ness,  in  observing  the  stops  and  points,  that  they 
were  much  better  understood  by  the  people ;  and 
yet  with  that  zeal  and  gravity  as  shewed  the  im 
portance  of  the  message  which  he  delivered,  and 
fixed  the  attention  of  those  that  were  to  receive  it. 
He  offered  up  all  the  prayers  with  great  warmth 
and  intenseness  of  mind ;  his  very  soul  seemed  to 
invigorate  every  petition,  and  to  give  new  life  to 
every  prayer;  which  is  certainly  one  good  method 
to  kindle  heavenly  affections  in  the  congregation. 
With  these  advantages  he  reconciled  the  minds  of 
his  parishioners  to  the  Common  Prayer,  before  the 
use  of  it  was  publicly  restored,  by  the  return  of 
a  couple  king  Charles  the  Second;  of  which  he  made  a  proof, 
the  form  of  when  he  was  but  newly  established  in  his  cure :  for 
Pray™!-0"  being  desired  to  marry  a  couple,  he  performed  it  on 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  47 

a  Sunday  morning,  according  to  the  form  of  the  1662. 
Common  Prayer  Book,  in  the  face  of  the  congrega- 
tion,  where  the  most  of  his  parishioners  were  as 
sembled  together  for  the  religious  observation  of  that 
holy  day.  When  he  came  out  of  the  church,  he  in 
quired  of  the  people,  how  they  liked  that  manner  of 
solemnizing  matrimony;  not  concealing  from  them 
how  much  it  was  in  their  power  to  expose  him  to  a 
malicious  prosecution,  and  shewing  at  the  same  time 
the  confidence  he  placed  in  their  kindness  and  affec 
tion  ;  upon  which  they  all  expressed  their  unani 
mous  approbation  of  his  performance  ;  declaring  not 
only  their  readiness  to  submit,  but  also  their  satis 
faction  in  joining  in  those  prayers  which  he  used  in 
public,  with  solemn  assurances,  that  they  would  not 
only  make  no  complaints  of  him  themselves,  but  also 
endeavour  to  prevent  them  from  others. 

It  is  possible,  this  devout  and  decent  reading  of  Readingthe 
the  prayers  of  the  church  may  be  looked  upon  by  voutfjTno6" 
some  as  a  mean  and  low  attainment,  and  by  others  ^^^ 
as  a  burden  and  task  to  be  imposed  only  upon  those  a'ldofsreat 

1  ,  .    advantage 

that  have  not  gifts  for  the  pulpit.     And  indeed,  if  to  the  pe«- 

pie. 

we  may  have  leave  to  guess  at  the  thoughts  of  some 
men  by  their  actions,  this  must  be  the  language  of 
their  hearts;  for  either  they  seldom  or  never  read 
the  prayers  themselves,  and  so  depreciate  the  worth 
and  excellency  of  them  with  the  people ;  as  if  that 
administration  were  below  the  dignity  of  a  parochial 
priest ;  or  they  provide  persons  of  such  ordinary  and 
unskilful  elocution  to  officiate  in  their  stead,  as  ap 
parently  tendeth  to  damp  rather  than  raise  the  de 
votion  of  the  congregation.  But  experience  suffi 
ciently  convinceth  us,  that  this  accomplishment  is 
not  easily  acquired,  because  we  find  there  are  but 


48  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  few  that  excel  this  way  ;  and  nothing  ought  to  be 
accounted  mean,  that  is  so  instrumental  in  promot 
ing  devotion  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of  men. 
And  if  any  one  will  attempt  in  earnest  to  make 
himself  master  of  this  talent,  he  will  find  that  it  will 
cost  him  much  labour  and  pains  before  he  can  com 
pass  it  ;  for  all  are  not  equally  blest  by  nature  with 
strength  and  sweetness  of  voice  ;  and  yet  they  ought 
not  to  be  discouraged  if  they  want  those  advantages, 
because  elocution  is  capable  of  great  improvement 
by  study  and  constant  practice.  But  after  all,  those 
who  cannot  read  as  becometh  the  service  of  God, 
ought  to  be  rejected  as  unfit,  upon  that  account,  to 
receive  holy  orders  ;  for  though  a  man  hath  the  un 
derstanding  of  an  angel,  yet  if  he  hath  no  voice,  or, 
at  least,  if  it  is  so  low,  and  so  imperfect,  that  he  can 
not  either  convey  his  thoughts  to  the  people,  or  offi 
ciate  to  edification  in  the  service  of  the  church,  so 
far  he  is  unqualified  to  be  admitted  into  the  sacred 
function.  What  a  dreadful  account  then  will  those 
governors  in  the  church  have  to  give  at  the  day  of 
judgment,  who  ordain  such  for  deacons  as  by  their 
administrations  quench  the  devotion  of  the  people, 
and  provoke  our  adversaries  to  reproach  us  ;  and  by 
their  incapacity  to  read,  make  the  Scripture  a  dead 
letter,  and  the  admirable  Liturgy  of  the  church  a 
contemptible  performance  ! 

His  manner  XIII.  But  though  Mr.  Bull  thus  excelled  in  dis- 
ing,  and  the  charging  all  the  offices  of  the  Liturgy,  yet  he  did  not 
shine  less  in  the  pulpit,  from  whence  he  did  for  se 
veral  years  instruct  his  parish  twice  every  Lord's  day. 
The  great  end  and  design  of  his  sermons  (for  I  have 
often  heard  him  with  great  pleasure  and  edifica- 


1 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  49 

tion*,  was  to  acquaint  his  people  with  the  know-  1662-9. 
ledge  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  which  were  able  to~ 
make  them  wise  unto  salvation  ;  and  therefore  all 
subjects  which  he  handled  were  always  strengthened 
and  confirmed  by  passages  from  holy  writ,  and  those 
passages  explained  and  made  easy  to  the  capacity  of 
the  meanest  understanding,  and  such  useful  obser 
vations  drawn  from  them,  as  gave  fresh  light  to  his 
subject,  as  well  as  to  those  texts  he  had  quoted  in 
order  to  illustrate  it.  And  indeed,  he  was  every 
way  qualified  for  this  proper  employment  of  a  Christ 
ian  preacher;  for  as  he  had  a  clear  head  and  a 
strong  judgment,  so  he  did  with  great  accuracy  un 
derstand  those  learned  languages,  wherein  the  Bible 
was  originally  wrote :  he  had  taken  no  small  pains 
in  his  youth  to  make  himself  master  of  the  Hebrew  ; 
for  he  did  not  content  himself  with  a  slight  and  su 
perficial  skill  in  a  language,  which  he  thought  so 
necessary  for  a  divine ;  and  upon  which  he  laid  such 
weight,  that  it  was  very  usual  with  him  to  recom 
mend  the  study  of  it  to  the  candidates  of  divinity, 
as  a  foundation  for  their  future  theological  per 
formances.  And  in  his  Harmonia  Apostolica,  which 
was  the  very  first  book  he  published,  he  gave  the 
world  a  sufficient  evidence  of  his  knowledge  of  this 
kind  ;  and  not  only  of  his  acquaintance  with  the 
Hebrew  text,  and  the  best  critics  thereupon,  but 
also  of  a  much  deeper  insight  into  the  Jewish  learn 
ing,  by  his  familiarity  with,  and  accurate  judgment 
concerning  the  customs  and  dogmata  of  that  nation, 

o  o 

from  their  best   writers.     By  these  means  he  was 


[t  While  Bull  was  rector  of  Suddington,  Nelson  was  living 
with  his  mother  at  Dryfield,  not  far  off,  and  received  lessons  from 
Bull  at  his  mother's  house.] 

E 


50  THE  LIFE  OF 


1662-9.  a^e  himself  to  make  a  judgment  of  the  translations 
~~  of  the  holy  Scriptures  ;  and  instead  of  an  implicit 
submission  to  the  critics,  was  qualified  to  discover 
their  errors,  as  well  as  to  admire  their  perfections; 
which  maketh  it  very  advisable,  that  all  those  who 
dedicate  themselves  to  the   service   of  the   church, 
should  allow  the  Hebrew  language  a  share  in  their 
studies.     To  these  helps  were  added  a  knowledge  of 
sacred   history  as   well   as   profane,   and  an  insight 
into  those  customs,  to  which  several  parts  of  Scrip 
ture  frequently  refer,  and  without  the  understand 
ing  of  which  it  is   often  impossible  to  discern  the 
strength  and  beauty  of  what  is  delivered.  But  above 
all,   he  was    thoroughly   acquainted   with   primitive 
antiquity,  and  had  with  great  care  and  observation 
read  the  works  of  the  fathers  and  ancient  doctors, 
from  whence  he  was  best  able  to  learn  the  sense  of 
the  catholic  church  upon  all  matters  of  consequence, 
which  is  the  best  guide  in  interpreting  those  Scrip 
tures  which  are  not  plain  in  themselves. 
He  only          It  was  but  seldom,  and  that  upon  some  extraordi- 
scheme^f   narv  occasions,  that  he  composed  his  sermon  entire, 
his  sermon.  an(j  committed  it  to  writing;  which  is  the  reason 
that  he  has  left  so  few  finished  discourses  behind 
him.     His  usual  method  was,  after  the  choice  of  his 
text,  to  mark  some  words  that  were  to  be  explained, 
in  order  to  give  the  true  sense    of  that  portion  of 
Scripture  he  had  chose  to  treat  upon  ;  and  then  he 
writ   down   some   observations,  which  flowed  natu 
rally  from  the  subject,  and  under  each  observation 
hints  to  illustrate  it,  and  texts  of  Scripture  proper 
to  be  explained  in   order   to  give  light  to   it  ;  and 
then  drew  inferences  from  his  whole  discourse  by 
way  of  application.     Thus  he  had  only  the  scheme 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  51 

of  his  sermon  before  him  in  writing;  and  having  in  1662-9. 
this  manner  secured  the  substance  of  it,  he  did  by  ~ 
custom  and  practice  bring  himself  to  a  great  readi 
ness  and  fluency  in  expressing  himself  upon  all  sub 
jects;  and  if  this  manner  of  preaching  wanted  the 
exactness  of  more  studied  composures,  it  had  the 
advantage  of  that  popular  style,  which  by  good 
judges  hath  been  thought  the  fittest  for  the  pulpit ; 
from  whence,  if  men  design  to  influence  and  per 
suade  the  generality  of  their  hearers,  they  must  con 
descend  to  use  more  words  than  are  necessary  in  a 
strict  sense;  the  same  thing  must  be  repeated  often, 
and  turned  after  a  different  manner,  and  inculcated 
with  force,  so  that  fresh  and  lasting  impressions  may 
be  made  upon  the  audience.  What  Mr.  Bull  deli 
vered  of  this  kind  never  wanted  a  becoming  fervour, 
and  he  enlivened  his  discourses  with  proper  and  de 
cent  gestures;  and  his  voice  was  always  exerted 
with  some  vehemency,  whereby  he  kept  the  audi 
ence  awake,  and  raised  their  attention  to  what  he 
delivered,  and  persuaded  the  people  that  he  was  in 
earnest,  and  affected  himself  with  what  he  recom 
mended  to  others.  By  these  means  he  laboured 
many  years  in  teaching  the  ignorant,  in  confirming 
the  weak,  in  quieting  the  scrupulous,  in  softening 
the  hard  heart,  in  rousing  the  sinner,  and  in  raising 
the  pious  soul  to  a  steady  and  vigorous  pursuit  of 
eternal  happiness.  And  whatever  he  delivered,  his 
words  were  generally  fixed  in  the  minds  of  his 
hearers,  as  they  parted  from  his  own  full  of  warmth 
and  heat. 

Mr.  Bull  was  too  sensible   of  the  necessity  and  His  care  in 

.         .         .        catechising 

advantage  of  catechising,  to  neglect  an  institution  the  youth, 
which  hath  so  direct  a  tendency  to  promote  piety 

E  2 


52  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  and  religion  in  the  minds  of  men.  The  instructions 
from  the  pulpit  very  often  miscarry  for  want  of  lay 
ing  a  good  foundation  in  the  first  principles  of  reli 
gion.  and  from  not  understanding  the  meaning  of 
those  words  and  phrases  which  so  frequently  occur 
in  set  and  formed  discourses;  and  it  is  a  vain  at 
tempt  to  reform  the  world,  without  seasoning  the 
minds  of  the  youth  with  that  necessary  knowledge 
of  the  Christian  mysteries,  upon  which  all  religious 
practice  must  be  built.  He  laboured  therefore  par 
ticularly  in  this  province,  and  did  not  content  him 
self  barely  to  hear  the  youth  repeat  the  words  of 
our  excellent  Catechism,  but  he  expounded  it  to 
them  after  a  plain  and  familiar  manner,  whereby  he 
did  not  only  sow  the  good  seed  of  the  word  in  young 
and  tender  minds,  but  also  enlightened  those  of  riper 
years,  whom  he  encouraged  and  exhorted  to  be  pre 
sent  at  his  catechetical  performances,  and  who  were 
too  much  ashamed  of  their  ignorance  to  overcome  it 
by  any  other  methods.  God  was  pleased  so  far  to 
bless  his  endeavours  of  this  kind,  that  he  carried 
fifty  persons  well  instructed  in  the  principles  of 
Christian  religion  at  one  time  to  the  visitation  at 
Cirencester,  who  were  all  confirmed  by  the  bishop, 
when  his  whole  parish  did  not  consist  of  above  thirty 
families. 

Baptism          He  administered  the  sacraments  of  our  holy  reli- 
gion  with  great  reverence  and  solemnity:  the  holy 


eucharist,  the  mysterious  rite  and  perfection  of 
him.  Christian  worship,  was  not  performed  so  often  in 
this  parish  as  he  earnestly  desired  ;  and  yet  oftener 
than  is  usual  in  little  villages  ;  for  he  brought  it  to 
seven  times  in  a  year.  But  whenever  he  officiated 
at  the  altar,  it  was  exactly  agreeable  to  the  direc- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  53 

tions  of  the  rubric,  and  with  the  gravity  and  serious-  1662-9. 
ness  of  a  primitive  priest.  He  preserved  the  custom 
of  a  collection  for  the  poor,  when  the  priest  begins 
the  offertory,  which  I  the  rather  mention,  because 
it  is  too  much  neglected  in  country  villages.  He 
always  placed  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine  upon 
the  altar  himself,  after  he  had  received  them  either 
from  the  churchwarden  or  clerk,  or  had  taken  them 
from  some  convenient  place,  where  they  were  laid 
for  that  purpose.  His  constant  practice  was  to  offer 
them  upon  the  holy  table,  in  the  first  place,  in  con 
formity  to  the  practice  of  the  ancient  church,  before 
he  began  the  communion  service;  and  this  the  ru 
bric,  after  the  offertory,  seemeth  to  require  of  all  her 
priests,  by  declaring,  that  "  when  there  is  a  commu- 
"  nion,  the  priest  shall  then  place  upon  the  table  so 
"  much  bread  and  wine  as  he  shall  think  sufficient.'' 
He  was  always  very  unwilling  to  administer  baptism 
in  private  houses,  except  in  cases  of  necessity,  when 
the  church  for  a  greater  good  thinketh  fit  to  dis 
pense  with  her  own  laws.  And  therefore  he  not 
only  admonished  parents  to  bring  their  children  to 
receive  public  baptism ;  but,  according  to  the  advice 
laid  down  in  the  rubric,  that  the  performance  might 
be  more  solemn,  he  desired  it  might  be  on  Sundays 
or  other  holy-days,  when  the  greatest  number  of 
people  were  met  together ;  that  the  congregation 
might  testify  the  receiving  of  them  that  are  newly 
baptized  into  the  number  of  Christ's  church  ;  and 
that  every  man  present  in  the  baptism  of  infants 
might  be  put  in  remembrance  of  his  own  profession 
made  to  God  in  that  sacrament.  He  urged  this 
with  the  greater  importunity  upon  his  parishioners, 
that  the  infant  to  be  baptized  might  thereby  have 


54  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  the  benefit  of  the  united  prayers  of  a  full  Christian 
congregation,  which  he  thought  were  much  to  be 
valued.  An  argument  which  could  not  fail  to  have 
a  great  influence  upon  parents,  who  seldom  want 
great  tenderness  and  affection  for  their  children ; 
though  sometimes  they  are  not  well  instructed  how 
to  exercise  it. 
Hisohser-  It  is  provided  by  the  rubric,  after  the  saying  the 

vation  of  *  * 

the  holy-  JNicene  Creed  on  Sundays,  that  "the  curate  shall 
church/ ie  "  declare  unto  the  people  what  holy-days  or  fasting- 
"  days  are  in  the  week  following  to  be  observed  :" 
and  this  direction  is  enforced  by  the  sixty-fourth 
canon  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Constitutions,  made  by 
the  Convocation  in  1 603.  Now  Mr.  Bull  did  not 
satisfy  himself  only  with  giving  this  notice  to  his 
parishioners,  which  he  could  not  well  omit  without 
neglecting  his  duty,  but  he  led  them  to  the  observa 
tion  of  such  holy  institutions  by  his  own  example. 
For  he  had  so  far  a  regard  to  these  holy-days,  as  to 
cause  all  his  family  to  repair  to  the  church  at  such 
times ;  and  on  the  days  of  fasting  arid  abstinence,  the 
necessary  refreshments  of  life  were  adjourned  from 
the  usual  hour  till  towards  the  evening.  He  was 
too  well  acquainted  with  the  practice  of  the  primi 
tive  Christians,  to  neglect  such  observances  as  they 
made  instrumental  to  piety  and  devotion,  and  had 
too  great  a  value  for  the  injunctions  of  his  mother 
the  church  of  England,  to  disobey  where  she  re 
quired  a  compliance ;  but,  above  all,  he  was  too 
intent  upon  making  advances  in  the  Christian  life, 
to  omit  a  duty  all  along  observed  by  devout  men, 
and  acceptable  to  God  under  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  both  as  it  was  helpful  to  their  devotion, 
and  became  a  part  of  it.  I  must  not  here  forget  to 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  55 

take  notice  of  the  particular  regard  he  always  paid  1662-9. 
to  Good  Friday,  called  by  the  ancient  fathers,  tlic~ 
chief  and  greatest  of  days,  the  mistress  of  all  solemni 
ties,  the  holy  and  adorable  day  of  our  Lord's  sal  titan/ 
passion.  It  is  very  difficult  in  country  villages  to 
prevail  on  people  to  attend  the  public  worship  upon 
any  week-day,  by  reason  of  that  constant  applica 
tion  wherewith  they  follow  their  worldly  affairs ; 
but  in  order  to  persuade  his  parishioners  to  a  strict 
observation  of  this  great  Christian  fast,  he  always 
had  a  sermon  besides  the  service  of  the  church 
to  bring  them  together,  and  as  long  as  he  was  able, 
he  was  no  less  constant  in  preaching  it  himself- 
The  sense  of  our  Saviour's  sufferings  was  on  such 
occasions  warm  upon  his  mind,  and  he  never  failed 
at  such  times  to  work  upon  the  tender  passions  of 
his  hearers,  since  it  was  the  sins  of  mankind  that 
drew  upon  the  blessed  Jesus  the  painful  and  shame 
ful  death  of  the  cross.  And  what  preacher  would 
neglect  so  favourable  an  opportunity  to  advance  the 
love  of  his  dear  Redeemer  in  the  minds  of  men,  by 
a  lively  representation  of  those  inexpressible  sorrows, 
which  he  suffered  in  his  last  bitter  passion  for  the 
salvation  of  souls  ? 

XIV.  If  we  follow  Mr.  Bull  from  the  perform-  The  reii- 

1    •  f  •!  1  gil'US  gO- 

ance  of  his  pastoral  duties  into  his  own  family,  and  vemment 
consider  him  as  the  master  that  governs  it,  we  shall  JJJ.J? fa" 
still  find  him  acted  by  principles  of  true  piety ;  and 
indeed,  as  the  apostle  observeth,  If  a  man  know  not 
how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he  take  care  of 
the  church  of  God  f     If  he  hath  not  a  true  concern 
for  the  souls  of  his  wife  and  children  and  servants, 
and  doth  not  make  use  of  all  favourable  opportunities 


56  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  ^°  instil  the  fear  of  God  into  their  minds;  how  is  it 
~~  possible  he  should  have  zeal  enough  to  set  forward 
the  salvation  of  others,  where  the  obligations  are 
less,  and  the  endearments  weaker  ?  But  in  this 
particular,  as  well  as  in  many  others,  Mr.  Bull  ap 
proved  himself  to  be  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to 
be  ashamed,  for  he  exercised  a  pious  care  in  training 
up  those  under  his  charge  in  the  worship  and  service 
of  God.  Every  morning  and  every  evening  the  family 
were  called  together  to  offer  up  their  prayers  to 
their  great  Creator  and  Preserver.  This  is  a  duty 
certainly  incumbent  upon  all  masters  of  families, 
because  it  tendeth  so  very  much  to  the  glory  of 
God,  and  the  welfare  of  those  under  their  govern 
ment  ;  but  more  particularly  belongeth  to  a  clergy 
man  from  the  nature  of  his  function,  so  that  if  he 
neglecteth  this  morning  and  evening  sacrifice,  it  is  a 
shrewd  sign,  that  his  mind  hath  but  a  small  tincture 
of  true  religion,  and  that  he  hath  no  great  regard  to 
his  own  function. 

Upon  these  occasions  Mr.  Bull  did  not  give  him 
self  the  liberty  of  using  prayers  of  his  own  com 
posing,  though  he  was  very  well  qualified  for  what 
is  called  extempore  prayer,  if  he  would  have  ven 
tured  upon  such  a  presumptuous  undertaking  in 
public,  for  he  had  great  quickness  of  thought,  and 
could  express  the  desires  of  his  soul  in  a  very  decent 
and  affecting  manner ;  but  he  esteemed  the  praying 
by  a  form  the  safest  and  best  method  to  secure 
devotion.  Those  he  used  were  either  composed 
by  bishop  Taylor,  or,  of  late  years,  were  taken  out 
of  The  Common  Prayer  Book  the  best  Companion, 
and  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays  the  Litany  office. 
A  portion  of  Scripture  was  read  at  the  same  time ; 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  57 

and  when  the  nature  of  the  subject  or  the  difficulty  1662-9. 
of  the  place  required  it,  he  would  expound  several 
passages  as  they  were  read  ;  and  very  often,  after 
prayers  were  ended,  before  the  family  was  dismissed, 
he  would  make  some  remarks  upon  them.  A  me 
thod  very  edifying,  and  tending  to  the  improvement 
of  those  under  his  care,  which  by  degrees  must  enter 
them  into  the  true  sense  of  the  holy  Scripture,  and 
give  them  a  right  taste  and  relish  for  those  inspired 
writings.  Upon  Sunday  evenings  there  was  the  ad 
dition  of  a  chapter  out  of  that  excellent  book,  The 
whole  Duty  of  Man,  than  which  we  have  none  more 
fit  for  general  and  constant  use ;  and  this  was  for 
the  farther  instruction  of  his  family,  particularly  of 
those  who  had  been  deprived  of  going  to  church,  by 
reason  of  the  necessary  services  of  the  house. 

His  conjugal  affection  discovered  itself  not  so 
much  in  fond  words  and  expressions,  as  in  perform 
ing  all  those  substantial  duties  to  which  the  vow  of 
matrimony  obligeth ;  in  conjugal  chastity,  and  in  his 
tender  care  of  his  wife  in  times  of  sickness,  upon 
which  occasions  he  never  failed  to  express  the  deep 
est  concern,  and  spared  no  expense  to  procure  her 
recovery.  His  paternal  love  displayed  itself  in  the 
religious  education  of  his  children :  he  took  care  to 
train  them  up  in  the  ways  of  piety  and  virtue,  and 
brought  them  into  an  early  acquaintance  with  the 
principles  of  Christianity  ;  and  did  not  neglect  that 
correction  of  then?  which  his  nature  was  averse  to, 
but  which  his  reason  and  judgment  obliged  him  to 
comply  with,  as  necessary  to  secure  their  education. 
And  therefore  when  he  did  not  spare  the  rod  for  the 
good  of  his  child,  he  was  sure  to  suffer  more  pain 
than  what  he  inflicted.  Besides,  he  bestowed  no 


58  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  small  pains  upon  the  instruction  of  his  son,  Mr. 
George  Bull,  who  had  few  equals  for  his  piety  and 
learning,  (of  whom  we  shall  have  a  sorrowful  occa 
sion  to  speak  hereafter,)  though  he  had  little  or  no 
teaching  before  he  went  to  the  university,  but  what 
he  received  from  his  father.  And  though  his  wife 
and  children  were  his  principal  concern,  yet  his  ser 
vants  were  not  neglected,  for  they  were  part  of  his 
charge,  and  therefore  he  expected  to  be  accountable 
to  God  for  them.  If  any  in  that  rank  could  not 
read,  he  would  assign  one  of  the  family  to  be  their 
teacher,  with  orders  to  instruct  them  in  the  prin 
ciples  of  religion ;  whereby  great  good  was  done  to 
both,  since  there  is  a  reward  prepared  for  the  cha 
rity  of  the  teacher,  as  well  as  for  the  improvements 
of  the  disciple.  The  neglect  of  any  of  his  own 
affairs  by  his  servants  never  provoked  him  so  much 
as  their  absence  from  prayers  in  the  family ;  and 
nothing  but  absolute  necessity  was  admitted  as  a 
justifiable  excuse. 
His  private  ]3ut  the  better  to  judge  of  the  character  of  his  de- 

tlevotions. 

votion,  we  must  enter  with  him  into  his  closet,  and 
observe  the  frame  of  his  mind  in  the  common  and 
ordinary  occurrences  of  life.  There  is  great  reason 
to  believe,  that  he  was  very  frequent  in  his  private 
prayers  ;  and  by  his  rising  early  and  going  to  bed 
late,  he  secured  retirement  sufficient  for  that  pur 
pose.  Besides,  they  who  Jay  near  his  study,  made 
discoveries  of  that  nature  from  the  warmth  and  fer 
vour  and  importunity  used  in  his  spiritual  exercises, 
when  he  thought  all  the  family  safe  at  rest ;  and  the 
way  he  took  sometimes  to  express  the  pious  and 
devout  affections  of  his  mind  by  singing  of  psalms, 
made  it  more  difficult  to  be  concealed.  It  is  true 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  59 

indeed,  that  he  hath  left  no  compositions  of  this  kind  1662-9. 
behind  him,  which  maketh  it  reasonable  to  suppose, 
fcbat  in  his  closet  he  gave  the  desires  of  his  soul  a 
freer  vent,  and  that  when  he  conversed  with  God 
alone,  he  presented  him  with  the  natural  language 
of  the  heart,  which  He  chiefly  regards  ;  and  how  well 
he  was  fitted  and  qualified  to  perform  this  after  an 
excellent  manner,  hath  been  already  declared.  And 
after  all,  he  had  so  lively  a  sense  of  his  own  inability 
to  discharge  the  important  duties  of  his  holy  func 
tion,  and  so  great  a  zeal  to  promote  the  salvation  of 
those  souls  which  were  committed  to  his  charge, 
that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  if  he  was  very  earnest 
with  God  in  private  for  the  continual  supplies  of  his 
grace  to  strengthen  and  invigorate  his  best  endea 
vours,  and  that  all  his  flock  might  be  filled  with  the 
knowledge  of  God's  will  in  all  wisdom  and  spiritual 
understanding,  that  they  might  walk  worthy  of  the 
Lord  unto  all  pleasing,  being  fruitful  in  every  good 
work,  and  increasing  in  the  knowledge  of  God.  It 
is  a  true  observation  of  that  judicious  prelate,  bishop 
Sanderson,  ""That  the  kingdom  of  God  must  suffer 
"  violence,  and  that  the  people  will  not  ordinarily 
"  be  brought  into  it  without  some  force  :  but  let  me 
"  tell  you,"  saith  that  great  divine,  "  it  is  not  so 
"  much  the  violence  of  the  pulpit  that  doth  the  deed, 
"  as  the  violence  of  the  closet."  For  though  Paid 
planteth,  and  Apollos  watereth,  it  is  God  that  giceth 
the  increase.  So  that  in  order  to  make  the  spiritual 
building  perfect,  the  wise  pastor  must  be  as  instant 
with  God  to  secure  his  flock,  as  he  is  importunate 
with  them  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  ;  he  must 
without  ceasing  pray  for  them  as  well  as  instruct 
w  Vol.  Serm.  fol.  p.  464. 


60  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  them,  whereby  his  labours  will  bring  more  comfort  to 


himself,  as  well  as  more  profit  to  his  hearers. 
The  pious       The  constant  frame  and  temper  of  his  mind  was 

frame  and 

temper  of  so  truly  devout,  that  he  would  frequently  in  the 
daytime,  as  occasion  offered,  use  short  prayers  and 
ejaculations,  the  natural  breathings  of  pious  souls; 
and  when  he  was  sitting  in  silence  in  his  family,  and 
they,  as  he  thought,  intent  upon  other  matters,  he 
would  often,  with  an  inexpressible  air  of  great  se 
riousness,  lift  up  his  hands  and  eyes  to  heaven,  and 
sometimes  drop  tears.  And  as  a  farther  evidence  of 
this  true  Christian  frame  of  spirit,  he  took  great  de 
light  in  discoursing  of  the  things  of  God,  particularly 
of  His  love  and  mercy  in  the  daily  instances  of 
His  watchful  providence  over  mankind,  and  the 
right  use  that  ought  to  be  made  of  it.  He  would 
often  recount  to  those  he  conversed  with,  the  won 
ders  of  divine  goodness  already  vouchsafed  to  him 
self  and  his  friends  ;  their  happy  and  amazing  escapes 
out  of  several  sorts  of  dangers,  their  unexpected 
good  success,  not  without  rejoicing  in  the  Lord ;  and 
invite  others  to  tell  what  God  had  done  for  them  ; 
of  which  he  would  make  a  noble  use  by  way  of 
religious  inference  and  exhortation,  till  he  made 
the  hearts  of  his  hearers  burn  within  them.  And 
indeed  they  who  can  pass  all  the  hours  of  their 
conversation,  which  take  up  so  great  a  part  of  their 
lives,  without  making  any  reflections  of  this  nature, 
for  fear  of  the  lash  of  some  scoffing  wits,  who  are  apt 
to  call  it  canting,  appear  to  me  to  want  that  sense 
of  a  Deity  upon  their  minds,  which  is  necessary  to 
make  them  serious.  I  am  sure,  in  all  other  cases, 
where  our  heads  and  hearts  are  engaged,  we  natu 
rally  discover  it  by  our  tongues;  for  out  of  the  abun- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  61 

dance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh ;  and  it  is  1662-9. 
difficult  not  to  run  into  such  discourse  as  is  ready 
prepared  for  us  by  the  constant  application  of  our 
thoughts.  And  therefore  I  think  we  may  safely 
conclude,  that  whoever  maketh  religion  his  main 
business,  and  loveth  God  above  all,  cannot  be  better 
entertained  in  conversation  than  by  such  topics, 
which  tend  to  cultivate  and  promote  piety,  and 
every  thing  that  is  praiseworthy ;  neither  will  such 
an  one  readily  omit  any  reasonable  occasion  that 
offers  itself  to  advance  and  instil  the  sense  of  religion 
into  the  minds  of  others. 

Before  I  quit  this  head  of  his  private  devotions,  I  His  singing 

of  psalms  in 

must  beg  leave  to  observe,  that  singing  the  praises  his  private 
of  God  made  a  part  of  his  spiritual  exercises  in  his 
retirement,  which  he  chose  to  celebrate  in  the  words 
of  the  royal  Psalmist,  as  translated  into  metre  for 
that  purpose.  A  duty  recommended  by  St.  Paul  in 
several  of  his  Epistles  ;  and  yet  how  few  can  be 
prevailed  upon  to  join  in  psalmody,  when  it  is  made 
a  part  of  the  public  service  of  the  church  !  And  still 
there  are  fewer  who  perform  it  with  that  intenseness 
of  mind,  and  application  of  thought,  and  reverence 
of  posture,  as  such  a  solemn  part  of  worship  re- 
quireth  from  us ;  where  the  great  Majesty  of  heaven 
and  earth  is  the  object  we  address  to,  and  where 
the  acknowledgment  of  His  infinite  perfections,  and 
thankfulness  for  the  mercies  we  receive,  is  the  wor 
ship  we  design  to  pay.  It  is  very  fit  indeed,  that 
this  part  of  the  public  service  should  have  all  the 
advantage  imaginable  of  agreeable  harmony,  con 
sisting  both  in  voices  and  musical  instruments,  be 
cause  we  ought  to  offer  to  God  that  which  is  most 
excellent  in  its  kind.  But  however  it  must  be  re- 


62  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  membered,  that  these  are  only  to  be  used  as  helps  to 
raise  our  souls  to  a  higher  pitch  of  devotion,  and  are 
of  no  value  in  the  sight  of  God,  any  farther  than 
they  express  the  gratitude  of  our  hearts  ;  for  if  we 
permit  ourselves  to  dwell  too  much  upon  the  skill  of 
the  performance,  and  suffer  our  minds  by  the  plea 
sure  of  the  ear  to  be  carried  away  from  a  serious 
attention  to  the  matter,  the  religious  worship  of  it 
will  begin  to  sink  ;  and  though  there  may  be  melody 
in  the  composition,  yet  by  this  means  there  will  be 
none  in  the  heart,  which  God  chiefly  regards.  But 
the  generality  of  those  who  do  not  join  in  the  sing 
ing  of  psalms,  and  who  are  otherwise  very  serious, 
excuse  themselves  from  the  bad  poetry  of  the  old 
version,  wherein  there  are  several  old  words  used 
which  are  now  out  of  date,  and  several  odd  phrases 
that  give  them  great  offence.  Now  though  this  ob 
jection  doth  affect  only  some  parts  of  the  version,  if 
it  should  be  allowed  to  have  its  full  weight,  yet  cer 
tainly  it  is  no  great  argument  of  a  devout  mind,  to 
be  diverted  by  little  things  from  a  duty  substantially 
good  in  itself. 

But  notwithstanding  these  objections,  the  excel- 


the  old  ver-  lent  bishop  Beveridgc  hath  defended  the  old  version 

ed°by  bishop  ^n  a  particular  x  discourse  upon  that  subject;   and 

Bevendge.  after  having  impartially  weighed  it  and  compared  it 

with  the  new,  giveth  it  by  much  the  preference  ;  as 

keeping  closer  to  the  sense  of  the  original  text,  and 

by  being  composed  in  a  plain  and  low  style,  lying 

more  level  to  the  capacities  of  the  common  people, 

x  A  Defence  of  the  Book  of  Psalms,  collected  into  English 
metre  by  Thomas  Sternhold,  John  Hopkins,  and  others,  with 
critical  Observations  on  the  New  Version  compared  with  the  Old. 
Printed  for  R.  Smith,  1710. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  63 

who  are  far  the  greatest  part  of  the  kingdom.  That  1662-9. 
as  to  the  old  words,  they  are  few,  and  easily  ex- 
plained,  and  purely  English ;  whereas  the  style  of 
the  new  version  is  much  more  unintelligible  to  the 
vulgar,  by  a  great  mixture  of  words  derived  from  the 
Latin,  French,  and  Greek,  and  often  rather  a  para 
phrase  upon  the  text,  than  the  text  itself.  And  I  wish 
the  authority  of  this  great  man  may  prevail  as  much 
now  he  is  dead,  as  his  example  did  while  he  was 
alive,  in  this  matter  which  we  are  now  considering ; 
for  I  have  with  pleasure  beheld  the  conformity  of 
the  whole  congregation  to  his  own  devout  practice, 
who  constantly  stood  with  reverence  while  he  sung 
the  praises  of  God  ;  and  when  he  went  into  the  pul 
pit,  he  neither  altered  his  posture,  nor  forbore  to  join 
with  the  congregation  till  the  psalm  was  finished. 

And  now  I  have  named  this  great  and  good  man,  Thecharac- 
I  cannot  forbear  acknowledging  the  favourable  dis- ^mo"*', 
pensation  of  Providence  to  the  age  in  which  we  live, 
in  blessing  it  with  so  many  of  those  pious  discourses, 
which  this  truly  primitive  prelate  delivered  from  the 
pulpit ;  and  I  the  rather  take  the  liberty  to  call  it 
a  favourable  dispensation  of  Providence,  because  he 
gave  no  orders  himself  that  they  should  be  printed ; 
but  humbly  neglected  them,  as  not  being  composed 
for  the  press.  But  this  circumstance  is  so  far  from 
abating  the  worth  of  the  sermons,  or  diminishing 
the  character  of  the  author,  that  to  me  it  seemeth 
to  raise  the  excellency  of  both  ;  because  it  sheweth 
at  once  the  true  nature  of  a  popular  discourse,  and 
the  great  talent  this  prelate  had  that  way.  For  to 
improve  the  generality  of  hearers,  they  must  be 
taught  all  the  mysteries  of  Christianity,  and  the 
holy  institutions  belonging  to  it ;  since  it  is  upon 


64  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  this  true  foundation  that  the  practice  of  Christian 
virtues  must  be  built,  to  make  them  acceptable  in 
the  sight  of  God.  And  then  all  this  must  be  de 
livered  to  the  people  in  so  plain  and  intelligible  a 
style,  that  they  may  easily  comprehend  it  ;  and  it 
must  be  addressed  to  them  in  so  affecting  and  mov 
ing  a  manner,  that  their  passions  may  be  winged  to 
a  vigorous  prosecution  of  what  is  taught.  If  I  mis 
take  not,  the  sermons  of  this  learned  bishop  answer 
this  character;  and  I  am  confirmed  in  this  opinion 
by  the  judgment  of  those  who  are  allowed  to  have 
the  greatest  talents  for  the  pulpit,  as  well  as  for  all 
other  parts  of  learning.  He  had  a  way  of  gaining 
people's  hearts,  and  touching  their  consciences,  which 
bore  some  resemblance  to  the  apostolical  age  ;  and 
when  it  shall  appear  that  those  bright  preachers, 
who  have  been  ready  to  throw  contempt  upon  his 
lordship's  performances,  can  set  forth  as  large  a  list 
of  persons  whom  they  have  converted  by  their 
preaching,  as  I  could  produce  of  those  who  owed 
the  change  of  their  lives,  under  God,  to  the  Christ 
ian  instructions  of  this  pious  prelate,  I  shall  readily 
own  that  they  are  superior  to  his  lordship  in  the 
pulpit.  Though,  considering  what  learned  works  he 
published  in  the  cause  of  religion,  and  what  an  emi 
nent  pattern  he  was  of  true  primitive  piety,  I  am 
not  inclined  to  think  that  his  lordship  will,  upon 
the  whole  of  his  character,  be  easily  equalled  by  any 
one.  But  to  proceed. 

Mr.  Bull's       XV.  In  the  governing  this  parish  of  Suddington, 
Mr.  Bull  observed  the  same  method  which  he  had 


this  parish.  prescribe(]  to  himself  in  that  of  St.  George's  near 
Bristol,  which  hath  been  already  mentioned.     And 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  65 

certainly  nothing  could  better  answer  the  end  and  1662-9. 
design  of  his  function,  than  a  constant  watch  over~ 
the  conduct  of  his  flock ;  that  the  seed  he  sowed  in 
such  plenty  might  not  be  scattered  by  the  winds  of 
violent  temptations,  nor  be  destroyed  by  the  evil 
one,  who  goeth  about  seeking  whom  he  may  devour. 
This  personal  acquaintance  of  a  minister  with  his 
parishioners  will  give  him  a  great  advantage  in  for 
warding  their  spiritual  welfare,  provided  it  is  chiefly 
employed  to  that  purpose.  For  besides  that  profit 
which  redoundeth  to  them  from  the  thing  itself,  this 
tender  and  compassionate  regard  towards  the  people 
will  create  in  them  a  great  love  for  his  person, 
and  a  cheerful  attendance  upon  his  ministry,  which 
are  admirable  dispositions  to  prepare  the  mind  for 
instruction.  And  I  think  no  man  ought  to  be 
deterred  from  attempting  this,  because  some  incon 
siderate  minds  censure  it  as  an  affectation  of  popu 
larity;  for  to  endeavour  to  procure  the  love  and 
good-will  of  the  parishioners,  is  so  far  from  being 
a  fault  in  a  parish  priest,  that  I  look  upon  it  as 
his  duty,  it  being  the  likeliest  means  to  make  his 
labours  among  them  effectual.  All  the  mischief  of 
popularity  is,  when  men  betray  their  consciences 
rather  than  displease  men.  and  sacrifice  their  duty 
to  the  breath  of  the  people ;  when,  by  mean  and 
unworthy  arts,  they  court  that  applause  which  is  only 
due  to  merit ;  and  rather  than  forfeit  the  favour  of 
the  lord  of  a  manor,  comply  with  him  in  his  follies, 
and  yield  to  his  sacrilegious  encroachments.  But 
there  is  no  danger  that  a  clergyman,  who  under- 
standeth  the  weight  of  his  employment,  and  hath  a 
zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  will  ever  vouchsafe  to 
be  popular  upon  such  terms. 


66  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.       But  to  excite   all    the  parochial   clergy  to    this 


watchfulness  over  the  conduct  of  their  flock;  they 
have  a  pattern  of  it  in  the  High  Priest  of  our 
profession,  the  blessed  Jesus,  who  with  particular 
assiduity  applied  himself  to  form  and  preserve  those 
disciples  which  his  Father  had  committed  to  his 
care.  He  lived  among  them,  supporting  all  their 
weakness,  and  compassionating  their  infirmities ;  he 
instructed  them  in  public  and  in  private,  and  hid  no 
truth  from  them  which  might  be  profitable  for  them, 
and  which  they  were  able  to  bear.  He  hardly  suf 
fered  them  out  of  his  sight,  but  when  he  retired 
into  some  solitude,  and  then  he  remembered  them 
in  his  prayers.  This  love  and  care  of  his  disciples 
appeared  not  only  in  those  his  addresses  to  Heaven, 
which  preceded  his  passion,  but  when  he  was  de 
livered  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  he  seemed  to 
forget  himself  in  respect  of  them,  If  you  seek  me, 
saith  he,  let  these  go  their  way ;  as  if  he  had  been 
concerned  for  nothing  so  much  as  the  preservation 
of  his  disciples :  notwithstanding  his  bonds,  and  the 
violence  of  his  persecutors,  he  did  not  forget  his 
chief  apostle,  but  reached  forth  his  hand  to  raise 
him  from  his  unhappy  fall,  fulfilling  to  the  last  those 
words  of  Scripture,  Having  loved  his  own,  he  loved 
them  unto  the  end. 

Heconfirms      While  Mr.  Bull  was  rector  of  Suddington,  the  pro- 
two  ladies  r, 

that  were    vidence  of  God  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  fixing 

their  reii-    two  ladies^  of  quality,  in  that  neighbourhood,  in  the 

protestant  communion ;  who  had  been  reduced  to  a 

very  wavering  state  of  mind,  by  the  arts  and  sub- 


y  [One  of  them  was  the  countess  of  Newburgh.     See  the  pre 
face  to  the  Vindication  of  the  Church  of  England  ] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  67 

tleties  of  some  Romish  missionaries.  Their  specious  1662-9. 
pretences  to  antiquity  were  easily  detected  by  this  ~ 
great  master  of  the  ancient  Fathers;  and  by  his 
thorough  acquaintance  with  Scripture,  and  the  sense 
of  the  catholic  church,  in  matters  of  the  greatest  im 
portance,  he  was  able  to  distinguish  between  primi 
tive  truths,  and  those  errors  which  the  church  of 
Rome  built  upon  them.  He  had  frequent  con 
ferences  with  both  these  ladies,  and  answered  those 
objections  which  appeared  to  them  to  have  the 
greatest  strength,  and  by  which  they  were  very  near 
falling  from  their  steadfastness :  for  one  of  them  he 
writ  a  small  treatise,  which  she  had  requested  from 
him,  but  no  copy  of  it  is  to  be  found  among  those 
papers  he  left  behind  him ;  nothing  remaineth  of  it 
but  the  remembrance  that  it  was  written,  and  that 
he  did  thereby  succeed  in  establishing  the  lady  in 
the  communion  of  the  church  of  England z.  Both 
the  ladies  always  owned  with  the  greatest  sense  of 
gratitude  this  signal  service  they  received  from  the 
learning  and  capacity  of  Mr.  Bull.  None  can  well 
apprehend  how  grievous  a  state  of  human  life  doubt 
is,  in  matters  of  consequence,  but  they  who  feel  it ; 
and  therefore  no  wonder  if  they  blessed  that  happy 
instrument,  by  which  fresh  light  was  conveyed  into 
their  minds,  and  those  uncertainties  cleared  up  which 
they  laboured  under  in  reference  to  matters  of  the 
greatest  moment a.  The  method  indeed  they  took 

z  [This  treatise  was  afterwards  discovered,  and  published  by 
the  bishop's  son,  Robert  Bull,  with  the  title  of  A  Vindication  of 
the  Church  of  England.  It  was  written  in  1671.] 

a  [It  is  singular  that  Nelson's  own  wife  was  converted  to  the 
Romish  faith  by  Bossuet :  she  was  the  lady  Theophila  Lucy, 
widow  of  sir  Kingsmill  L.  bart.  and  second  daughter  of  George 

F  2 


68  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  was  prudent  and  Christian,  to  seek  for  knowledge 
~~  at  those  lips  which  are  appointed  to  preserve  it,  and 
to  bring  their  doubts  to  their  own  pastors  before 
they  submit  to  the  authority  of  others.  And  I 
question  not  but  for  this  reason,  among  many,  God 
thought  fit  to  give  them  the  satisfaction  they  sought 
for ;  and  if  others,  who  are  assaulted  after  this  man 
ner,  would  take  the  same  course,  I  doubt  not  but 
that  they  would  find  the  same  success. 

Aridicu-  The  only  dissenters  he  had  in  this  parish  were 
ofaQuZ  Quakers,  who  resisted  all  the  endeavours  he  made 
len 'gChal"  to  bring  them  into  the  church,  for  they  were  as  ob 
stinate  as  they  were  ignorant :  who  by  their  imper 
tinent  and  extravagant  manner  caused  him  often  no 
small  uneasiness.  And  of  this  number  was  one  who 
was  a  preacher  among  them,  who  would  frequently 
accost  Mr.  Bull ;  and  once  more  particularly  said  he, 
"  George,  as  for  human  learning  I  set  no  value  upon 
"  it ;  but  if  thou  wilt  talk  Scripture,  have  at  thee." 
Upon  which  Mr.  Bull,  willing  to  correct  his  confi 
dence,  and  to  shew  him  how  unable  he  was  to  sup 
port  his  pretensions,  answered  him,  "  Come  on  then, 
"  friend."  So  opening  the  Bible,  which  lay  before 
them,  he  fell  upon  the  Book  of  Proverbs ;  "  Seest 
"  thou,  friend,"  said  he,  "  Solomon  saith  in  one 
place,  "Answer  a  fool  according  to  his  folly ;  and  in 
"  another  place,  Answer  not  a  fool  according  to  his 
"folly ;  how  dost  thou  reconcile  these  two  texts  of 
"  Scripture?"  "Why,"  said  the  preacher,  "Solomon 
"  don't  say  so ;"  to  which  Mr.  Bull  replied,  "  Aye, 
"  but  he  doth."  And  turning  to  the  places  he  soon 

earl  of  Berkele:  she  died  in  the  Romish  communion,   A.  D. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  69 

convinced  him  ;  upon  which  the  Quaker  hereat  be-  1662-9. 
ing   much    out    of  countenance,  said,   "  Why   then  ~ 
"  Solomon's  a  fool;"  which  ended  the  controversy11. 


b  [This  person  may  possibly  have  been  John  Roberts,  who 
was  also  sometimes  called  Hayward,  a  man  of  considerable  note 
among  the  Quakers.  He  lived  at  Siddington  during  the  time 
that  Bull  was  vicar,  and  had  meetings  at  his  house,  as  appears 
from  the  life  of  him,  written  by  his  son  Daniel  Roberts  in  1725, 
and  republished  in  1786.  This  book  furnishes  us  with  some 
anecdotes  connected  with  Bull,  which  do  not  set  him  in  a  very 
amiable  light :  but  it  must  be  remembered,  that  they  are  re 
ported  by  a  man  who  felt  himself  aggrieved  in  the  person  of  his 
father,  and  who  writing  after  the  lapse  of  several  years  could 
hardly  have  recollected  minute  conversations ;  though  he  says,  that 
he  was  "  careful  to  pen  them  down  in  the  same  words  they  were 
"  then  expressed  in."  I  shall  therefore  give  extracts  from  this 
book  without  making  any  farther  remark  as  to  the  credit  which 
is  due  to  them. 

Not  long  after  1665,  Roberts  was  put  into  prison  for  taking 
part  with  three  of  his  friends,  who  were  accused  of  interrupting 
the  service  of  the  church.  It  is  not  stated  that  this  happened  at 
Siddington  ;  but  it  seems  probable  ;  and  we  are  told,  that  "  these 
"  standing  in  the  steeple-house  with  their  hats  on,  though  they 
"  said  nothing,  the  priest  was  silent :  and  being  asked,  If  he  was 
"  not  well?  he  answered,  He  could  not  go  forward  while  those 
"  dumb  dogs  stood  there.  Whereupon  the  people  dragged  them 
"  out:  and  the  priest  afterwards  informing  a  justice  that  they 
"  interrupted  him  in  divine  service,  they  were  bound  over  to  the 
"  quarter  sessions."  p.  9.  If  this  happened  at  Siddington,  the 
priest  was  probably  Bull. 

In  the  next  anecdote  Bull  is  mentioned  by  name.  "  He  was 
"  afterwards  cast  into  prison  at  Cirencester  by  George  Bull,  vicar 
"  of  Upper  Siddington,  for  tithes :  where  was  confined  at  the 
"  same  time,  upon  the  same  account,  Elizabeth  Hewlings,  a 
"  widow  of  Amney,  near  Cirencester.  She  was  a  good  Christian, 
"  and  so  good  a  midwife,  that  her  confinement  was  a  loss  to  that 
"  side  of  the  country ;  insomuch  that  lady  Dunch,  of  Down-Am- 
"  ney,  thought  it  would  be  an  act  of  charity  to  the  neighbour- 


70  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.       As  Mr.  Bull  was  intent  upon  the  spiritual  welfare 


His  charity  of  his  parishioners,  by  performing  the  part  of  a  dili- 

to  the  poor 
and  indi 
gent.  "  hood  to  purchase  her  liberty,  by  paying  the  priest's  demand, 

"  which  she  did."  p.  16.  In  a  conversation  which  she  afterwards 
had  with  Roberts,  she  asked  him  the  reason  of  his  being  in  prison  ; 
to  which  he  replied,  "  Because  for  conscience- sake  I  can't  pay  an 
"  hireling  priest  what  he  demands  of  me :  therefore  he,  like  the 
"  false  prophets  of  old,  prepares  war  against  me,  because  I  can- 
"  not  put  into  his  mouth."  p.  18.  After  some  more  questions 
and  answers,  she  told  her  servant  to  go  to  the  priest's  attorney,  and 
tell  him  she  would  satisfy  him.  J.  Roberts.  "  If  thou  art  a  charit- 
"  able  woman,  as  I  take  thee  to  be,  there  are  abroad  in  the 
"  world  many  real  objects  of  charity  on  whom  to  bestow  thy 
"  bounty  :  but  to  feed  such  devourers  as  these  I  don't  think  to  be 
"  charity.  They  are  like  Pharaoh's  lean  kine ;  they  eat  up  the 
"  fat  and  the  goodly,  and  look  not  a  whit  the  better."  p.  19. 
The  last  sentence  confirms  what  Nelson  tells  us,  that  Bull  "  in 
"  his  younger  years  was  thin  and  pale."  When  this  conversation 
happened  he  was  between  thirty  and  forty  years  of  age. 

Sometime  after  this,  Roberts  was  summoned  before  the  bishop 
of  Gloucester  (Nicholson)  for  not  going  to  church  ;  and  when  he 
expressed  a  desire  to  see  his  accusers,  the  bishop  told  him,  that  it 
was  the  minister  and  churchwardens;  (p.  31.)  which  agrees  with 
what  Nelson  says,  that  Bull  tried  all  in  his  power  to  bring  the 
Quakers  to  church. 

In  another  conversation  with  the  same  bishop,  the  expressions 
which  he  used  concerning  Bull  were  extremely  abusive.  Speak 
ing  of  a  former  vicar  of  Siddington,  he  says,  "  I  was  bred  up 
"  under  a  common  prayer-priest,  and  a  poor  drunken  old  man 
"  he  was:  sometimes  he  was  so  drunk  he  could  not  say  his 
"  prayers,  and  at  best  he  could  but  say  them  ;  though  I  think  he 
"  was  by  far  a  better  man  than  he  that  is  priest  there  now." 
Bishop.  "  Who  is  your  minister  now  ?"  J.  Roberts.  "  My  min- 
"  ister  is  Christ  Jesus,  the  Minister  of  the  everlasting  covenant : 
"  but  the  present  priest  of  the  parish  is  George  Bull."  Bishop. 
"  Do  you  say  that  drunken  old  man  was  better  than  Mr.  Bull  ? 
"  I  tell  you,  I  account  Mr.  Bull  as  sound,  able,  and  orthodox  a 
"  divine,  as  any  we  have  among  us."  J.  Roberts,  "  I  am  sorry 
"  for  that ;  for  if  he  be  one  of  the  best  of  you,  I  believe  the  Lord 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  71 

gent  and  pious  pastor  among  them ;  so  he  was  not  1662-9. 
less  concerned  to  relieve  their  temporal  wants  when 

"  will  not  suffer  you  long :  for  he  is  a  proud,  ambitious,  ungodly 
"  man  ;  he  hath  often  sued  me  at  law,  and  brought  his  servants 
"  to  swear  against  me  wrongfully.  His  servants  themselves 
"  have  confessed  to  my  servants,  that  I  might  have  their  ears ; 
"  for  their  master  made  them  drunk,  and  then  told  them  they 
"  were  set  down  in  the  list  as  witnesses  against  me,  and  they 
"  must  swear  to  it ;  and  so  they  did,  and  brought  treble  damages. 
"  They  likewise  owned  they  took  tithes  from  my  servant,  thresh- 
"  ed  them  out,  and  sold  them  for  their  master.  They  have  also 
"  several  times  took  my  cattle  out  of  my  grounds,  drove  them  to 
•'  fairs  and  markets,  and  sold  them,  without  giving  me  any  ac- 
"  count."  Bishop.  "  I  do  assure  you  I  will  inform  Mr.  Bull  of 
"  what  you  say."  J.  Roberts.  "  Very  well :  and  if  thou  pleasest 
"  to  send  for  me  to  face  him,  I  shall  make  much  more  appear  to 
"  his  face,  than  I'll  say  behind  his  back."  p.  42,  43. 

"  Some  time  after  this,  the  bishop  and  the  chancellor  in  their 
"  coaches,  and  about  twenty  clergymen  on  horseback,"  stopped 
at  Roberts'  house  on  their  way  to  the  visitation  at  Tedbury.  p.  49. 
One  of  these  clergymen  was  Bull,  as  appears  by  the  following 
story  :  for  after  the  bishop  and  some  others  had  drunk  of  the  ale 
which  Mrs.  Roberts  offered  them,  we  read,  "  My  father  then 
"  offering  the  cup  to  priest  Bull,  he  refused  it,  saying,  It  is  full 
"  of  hops  and  heresy.  To  which  my  father  replied  ;  As  for  hops 
"  I  cannot  say  much,  not  being  at  the  brewing  of  it  ;  but  as  for 
"  heresy,  I  do  assure  thee,  neighbour  Bull,  there  is  none  in  my 
"  beer ;  and  if  thou  pleasest  to  drink,  thou  art  welcome ;  but  if 
"  not,  I  desire  thee  to  take  notice,  as  good  as  thou  will,  and 
"  those  who  are  as  well  able  to  judge  of  heresy."  p.  52.  Before 
they  parted,  the  bishop  said,  "  I  want  some  more  discourse  with 
"  you.  Will  you  go  with  me  to  Mr.  Bull's  ?"  J.  Roberts. 
"  Thou  knowest  he  hath  no  good- will  for  me.  I  had  rather 
"  attend  on  thee  elsewhere."  Bishop.  "  Will  you  come  to-mor- 
"  row  to  Tedbury?"  J.  Roberts.  "Yes,  if  thou  desirest  it." 
Bishop.  "  Well  I  do.  The  bishop  then  took  his  leave,  and  went 
"  not  to  George  Bull's;  at  which  he  was  very  much  offended." 

P-  53.  54- 

Roberts  went  to  Tedbury,  while  the  bishop  was  there,   and 


72  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  the  necessities  of  the  poor  required  his  assistance. 
He  had  not  the  least  tincture  of  covetousness  in  his 
temper  ;  hospitable  he  was  to  all  his  neighbours,  and 
they  never  wanted  relief  who  were  known  to  him  to 
stand  in  need  of  it.  When  he  visited  any  poor  sick 

being  asked  by  him,  "  Will  you  promise  to  go  to  your  own  parish 
"  church  to  hear  divine  service  ?"  he  answered,  "  I  can  promise 
"  no  such  thing.  The  last  time  I  was  there,  I  was  moved  and 
"  required  of  the  Lord,  whom  I  serve,  to  bear  my  testimony 
"  against  a  hireling  priest,  who  was  preaching  for  hire,  and  divin- 
"  ing  for  money :  and  he  was  angry  with  me,  and  caused  the 
"  people  to  turn  me  out.  And  I  don't  intend  to  trouble  him 
"  again  till  he  learn  more  civility,  except  the  Lord  require  it  of 
"  me."  p.  55,  56.  In  this  same  conversation  the  bishop  told 
Robei'ts,  that  he  had  heard  Mr.  Bull  say  strange  things  of  him, 
that  he  could  tell  where  to  find  any  thing  which  was  lost,  as  well 
as  any  cunning  man.  p.  60.  Roberts  related  to  the  bishop  the 
circumstances  of  each  of  these  stories ;  and  it  must  be  acknow 
ledged  that  he  divested  them  of  every  appearance  of  the  marvel 
lous,  and  added,  "  though  this  is  no  more  than  a  common  acci- 
"  dent,  I  find  George  Bull  hath  endeavoured  to  improve  it  to  my 
"  disadvantage."  p.  63.  After  the  explanation  of  another  story, 
which  the  bishop  had  heard  from  Bull,  he  said  to  Roberts,  "  I 
"  wanted  to  hear  these  stories  from  your  own  mouth ;  though  I 
"  did  not,  nor  should  have  credited  them  in  the  sense  Mr.  Bull 
"  related  them  :  but  I  believe  you,  John."  p.  65. 

This  conversation  happened  not  long  before  1671,  when  the 
bishop  died.  Some  time  after  this,  Roberts  was  again  imprisoned 
in  Gloucester  gaol,  and  the  charge  seems  to  have  been  the  same 
as  before,  that  he  held  conventicles  in  his  house  instead  of  going 
to  church,  p.  80.  He  died  in  1683,  two  years  before  Bull  left 
Siddington. 

It  is  singular,  that  there  was  a  kind  of  connexion  by  marriage 
between  Roberts  and  Bull's  son  George.  Nelson  informs  us,  that 
the  latter  married  a  granddaughter  of  sir  Matthew  Hale :  and, 
in  the  Life  before  alluded  to,  we  find  that  Roberts  married  Lydia 
Tindal,  and  that  Matthew  Hale,  afterwards  lord  chief  justice  of 
England,  was  her  kinsman,  p.  6.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  73 

family,  his  prayers  and  his  alms  went  ever  together  1662-9 
upon  those  occasions.  He  would  send  largely  to 
poor  housekeepers  in  the  time  of  their  distress,  when 
they  were  visited  with  sickness,  or  had  sustained 
any  great  loss.  But  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
clergymen,  who  were  unprovided  for,  were  the  con 
stant  objects  of  his  care  arid  concern  ;  he  usually 
gave  liberally  himself,  and  was  very  active  in  pro 
curing  charities  from  the  gentry  in  the  neighbour 
hood  upon  such  occasions ;  and  his  character  was  so 
valued  among  persons  of  the  best  figure,  that  he 
seldom  solicited  the  cause  of  the  poor,  but  they 
found  the  benefit  of  such  an  advocate.  His  particu 
lar  method  in  doing  good  for  a  great  part  of  his 
time  consisted  in  keeping  poor  children  at  school ; 
he  was  very  sensible  of  the  advantages  which  attend 
that  sort  of  charity ;  so  that  where  the  parents  were 
poor,  he  became  a  father  to  their  children  in  the  care 
of  such  an  education,  which  was  not  only  of  use  to 
them  in  the  world,  but  very  instrumental  in  pro 
moting  their  eternal  salvation. 

His  usual  discourse  upon  this  subject  was,  that  His  send- 
when  we  give  to  the  poor,  we  do  good  to  ourselves; R 
not  so  much  because  God  is  sometimes  pleased  to 
bless  our  charity  with  an  increase  of  our  earthly 
substance,  as  because  they  who  abound  in  good 
works  acquire  an  interest  in  the  prayers  and  bene 
dictions  of  the  poor,  which  he  was  persuaded  did 
prevent  them  from  falling  into  many  dangers  in  this 
life,  and  were  of  mighty  prevalence  with  God, 
through  the  merits  of  Christ,  toward  their  eternal 
salvation  and  admission  into  his  heavenly  kingdom. 
He  would  strengthen  the  first  part  of  his  proposition 
with  the  authority  of  St.  Jerome,  from  the  following 


74  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  passage c ;  "I  do  not  remember,"  saith  he,  "that  I  ever 
"  read,  that  any  one  who  abounded  in  acts  of  charity, 
"  and  was  glad  to  distribute,  died  an  evil  death  or 
"  came  to  a  bad  end ;  for  such  a  man  hath  many 
"  intercessors,  and  it  is  impossible  that  the  prayers 
"  of  many  should  not  be  granted."  The  latter  part 
he  grounded  upon  the  words  of  our  Saviour,  And  I 
say  unto  you,  Make  to  yourselves  friends  of  the 
mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that  when  ye  fail, 
they  may  receive  you  into  everlasting  habitations, 
Luke  xvi.  9,  which  he  interpreted  after  this  manner : 
"  By  the  riches  bestowed  in  almsgiving  make  the 
"  poor  your  friends,  that  when  you  fail,  i.  e.  die, 
"  they,  the  poor  which  you  have  made  your  friends, 
"  may  receive  you  into  everlasting  habitations ;  that 
"  is,  that  God,  looking  upon  the  almsdeeds  you 
"  have  done,  and  hearing  the  prayers  and  blessings 
"  of  the  poor,  may  reward  you  with  eternal  life,  ac- 
"  cording  to  his  promise."  He  would  be  very  angry 
with  those  people  who  pleaded  Scripture  for  stinting 
their  charity,  abusing  that  sacred  text,  1  Tim.  v.  8, 
But  if  any  provide  not  for  his  own,  especially  those 
of  his  own  house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is 
worse  than  an  infidel.  The  occasion  of  which 
words,  he  would  say,  was  this,  viz.,  "  There  was  a 
"  bank  of  charitable  collections  in  the  house  of  the 
"  bishop,  out  of  which  the  apostle  appointed  the 
"  poor  widows  to  be  relieved,  when  he  saith,  Ho- 
"  nour  widows,  that  are  widows  indeed ;  ver.  3. 
"  that  is,  relieve  and  maintain  them ;  but  he  would 


c  Non  memini  me  legisse  mala  morte  mortuum  qui  libenter 
opera  charitatis  exercuit ;  habet  enim  multos  intercessores,  et 
impossibile  est  multorum  preces  non  exaudiri. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  75 

"  not  have  them  cast  upon  the  charity  of  the  church,  1662-9. 

"  if  they  had  relations  of  their  own,  who  were  able  ~ 

"  to  maintain  them,  ver.  4,  and  saith,  that  those  who 

"  neglected  so  to  do  were  worse  than  infidels.     So 

"  that  he  would  say,  this  text  made  against  covetous 

"  people,  who  were  most  apt  to  neglect  their  poor 

"  relations  :  that  it  did  require  charity  to  poor  rela- 

"  tions,  but  gave  no  manner  of  countenance  to  those 

"  miserable  worldlings,  who  did  covet  and  keep  all 

"  to  themselves,  in  order  to  enrich  and  raise  their 

"  families." 

XVI.  I  cannot  find  that  after  he  entered  into  holy  His  only 

,  ,.          ,  diversion, 

orders,  he  was  ever  addicted  to  any  innocent  plea- agreeable 
sure,  which  is  often  necessary  to  unbend  the  mind,  ™0™er 
and  to  preserve  the  body  in  health  and  vigour.  If 
there  was  any  thing  that  looked  like  a  diversion,  it 
was  the  enjoyment  of  agreeable  conversation ;  the 
best  that  neighbourhood  afforded,  he  was  always 
master  of,  because  he  was  a  welcome  guest  wherever 
he  made  any  visits.  But  what  he  chiefly  loved,  was, 
to  receive  learned  and  good  men  at  his  own  house, 
especially  those  of  his  own  profession ;  and  they 
could  never  entertain  him  better  than  by  supporting 
the  conversation  with  inquiries  into  subjects  of  divi 
nity,  or  of  any  other  part  of  learning.  For  the  com 
pass  of  his  knowledge  was  so  extensive,  especially 
in  all  parts  of  theology,  that  he  never  seemed  to  be 
surprised  with  any  question  of  that  nature ;  but 
could  immediately,  and  upon  the  spot,  without  the 
least  hesitation,  give  a  pertinent  and  a  full  answer 
to  it.  His  notions  were  so  distinct  and  clear,  that 
he  could  bring  down  the  sublimest  truths  to  ordinary 
capacities,  and  set  the  most  abstruse  points  in  so 


76  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  good  a  light,  that  you  might  easily  and  at  once  see 
~  through  them.     Some  learned  men,  who  have  been 
very  eminent  for  their  improvements  in  all  sorts  of 
knowledge,    have    nevertheless    conversed    with    so 
much  reserve,  that  they  have  seemed  to  grudge  the 
world  the  least  fruit  of  their  labours  :  but  Mr.  Bull 
better  understood  the  use  he  was  obliged  to  make  of 
those  talents  which  God  had  committed  to  his  trust ; 
and  he  did  gladly  communicate  his  thoughts  to  all 
those  who  had  the  happiness  to  converse  with  him  ; 
for  where  he  could  not  learn,  he  delighted  to  make 
others  wiser  and  better ;  and  he  was  always  ready 
to  give  light  to  any  obscure  passage  of  Scripture,  to 
confirm   any  point   of   faith,   and   to   represent   any 
truth  of  the  Christian  religion  to  the  best  advantage. 
And  what  farther  enabled  him  to  shine  in  conversa 
tion,  was,  his  extraordinary  candour  and  modesty, 
whereby  he  never  provoked  those  to  expose  their 
imperfections   who    desired    information   from    him, 
but  took  the  first  opportunity  to  remove  their  igno 
rance,  without  seeming  to  take  notice  of  it. 
He  prose-       To  say  the  truth,  Mr.  Bull's  chief  delight  was  in 
studieswith  n^s  books,  and  his  study  was  the  scene  of  his  most 
great  appii-  exquisite  pleasure  ;  and  he  would  freely  own,  with 
great  assurance,  that  he  tasted  the  most  refined  satis 
faction  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  that  the  present 
state  of  human  nature  was   capable   of ;   and   that 
when    his    thoughts  were   lively  and    lucky   in    his 
compositions,  he  found  no  reason  to  envy  the  enjoy 
ment  of  the  most  voluptuous  epicure.     His  course 
indeed  of  study  proved  prejudicial  to  his  health,  be 
cause  he  dedicated  the  greatest  part  of  the  night  to 
that  purpose  for  many  years  together,  and  contented 
himself  with  little  sleep,  rising  early  and  going  to 


com- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  77 

bed  late.  But  no  extraordinary  attainments  are  1662-9. 
acquired  without  labour  and  pains ;  and  the  reason  ~" 
why  he  chose  these  hours  for  that  purpose,  was,  be 
cause  he  secured  thereby,  what  he  could  not  other 
wise  promise  himself,  an  entire  freedom  from  noise 
and  disturbance,  and  from  all  the  interruptions  of 
business  and  company.  It  is  to  this  constant  appli 
cation  of  mind  that  we  owe  those  learned  and  judi 
cious  treatises  which  Mr.  Bull  published  in  his  life 
time  ;  for  during  the  twenty-seven  years  he  was 
rector  of  Suddington,  he  composed  most  of  them ; 
as  well  as  those  sermons  and  discourses  which  are 
now  offered  to  the  consideration  of  the  public. 

It  is  to  be  lamented,  indeed,  that  some  part  of  his  Several 
labour  is  perished,  and  that  several  smaller  tracts  Po^d  by 
which  cost  him  much  pains  are  entirely  lost.  It  was  hnn' lost" 
too  usual  with  him,  from  a  modest  opinion  of  his 
own  performances,  when  he  had  finished  a  work  of 
consequence,  to  be  negligent  in  the  preservation  of 
it ;  and  if  he  lent  it  out  to  be  perused  by  a  neigh 
bour,  he  seldom  remembered  to  call  upon  him  to  re 
turn  it,  if  the  borrower  neglected  to  bring  it  back. 
It  is  thought  that  several  sermons  that  were  finished 
by  him,  are  lost  after  this  manner.  There  was  a 
short  treatise,  the  loss  of  which  the  Christian  reader, 
who  hath  a  veneration  for  primitive  antiquity,  will 
very  much  regret,  and  which  was  composed  by 
Mr.  Bull,  in  answer  to  this  question,  viz.,  What 
was  the  posture  of  communicating  in  the  blessed  sa 
crament,  before  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  was 
received  in  the  church  ?  In  his  reply,  he  proved  from 
antiquity,  that  the  practice  in  the  most  ancient 
times  was  for  the  communicants  to  draw  near  to 
the  bema,  or  chancel,  and  there  to  receive  the  sacred 


78  THE  LIFE  OF 

1662-9.  elements  from  the  hands  of  the  priest,  in  a  bowing 
or  adoring  posture.  This  was  writ  at  the  request 
of  his  diocesan,  bishop  Framptond,  who  sat  with 
great  reputation  for  many  years  in  the  episcopal 
chair  of  Gloucester,  but  chose  rather  to  lose  his 
bishopric8,  and  the  rest  of  his  preferments,  than 
sacrifice  the  peace  of  his  own  mind,  or  comply  with 
such  terms  which  his  conscience  could  not  digest. 
And  as  it  was  composed  at  the  desire  of  his  bishop, 
so  was  it  wrote  in  opposition  to  those  who  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  assert,  that  none  besides  a 
table-posture  was  used,  till  the  doctrine  of  the  cor 
poral  presence  was  first  introduced  into  the  church  ; 
which  is  so  contrary  to  the  practice  of  all  antiquity, 
that  it  is  certain,  that  anciently  it  was  not  permitted 
to  any  person  whatsoever,  except  the  emperor  only, 
when  he  made  his  oblation,  to  go,  during  the  time 
of  divine  service,  into  the  altar-part  of  the  church, 
which  was  then  termed  the  sanctuarium,  and  is 
now  by  us  called  the  chancel.  And  accordingly 
St.  Ambrose  would  not  permit  the  emperor  Theo- 
dosius  himself  to  communicate f  in  this  part,  but 
obliged  him  to  retire  as  soon  as  he  had  made  his 
oblation  at  the  altar. 

When  Dr.  Pearson  was  about  vindicating  the 
epistles  of  that  apostolical  bishop  and  martyr  St. 
Ignatius,  and  some  time  before  he  published #  his 

d  [It  therefore  could  not  have  been  written  till  many  years 
after  the  time  of  which  Nelson  is  now  speaking ;  for  Robert 
Frampton  was  not  consecrated  bishop  of  Gloucester  till  1681.] 

e  [He  was  deprived  in  1690  for  not  taking  the  oaths  to 
William  and  Mary.] 

f  Vid.  Theodor.  lib.  v.  c.  18.   Sozom.  lib.  vii.  c.  25. 

£  [He  published  the  Vindicite  Epistolarum  S.  Ignatii  in  1672.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  79 

admirable  treatise  upon  that  subject,  Mr.  Bull,  1662-9. 
though  very  young,  wrote  a  long  letter  to  him  in 
Latin,  containing  many  excellent  observations  and 
solid  arguments  to  prove  that  those  epistles  were 
genuine.  Dr.  Pearson  returned  him  a  large  answer 
in  the  same  learned  language ;  wherein  he  gave  him 
ample  thanks  for  the  pains  he  had  taken  upon  that 
subject ;  acknowledged  the  great  usefulness  of  his 
observations,  and  the  strength  of  his  arguments. 
This  answer  and  the  former  tract  were  read  by  Mr. 
Archdeacon  Stephens,  son-in-law  to  bishop  Bull, 
and  present  rector  of  Suddington,  many  years  ago  ; 
a  person  very  considerable  for  his  piety  and  learn 
ing;  and  it  is  to  him  I  owe  the  preceding  account 
of  the  contents  of  them  ;  but  they  are  not  now  to  be 
found.  He  wrote,  besides  this,  a  long  letter  to  Mr. 
Glanvil,  formerly  minister  of  Bath,  concerning  the 
eternity  of  future  punishments ;  and  another  upon 
the  subject  of  popery,  to  a  person  of  great  quality ; 
but  nothing  remaineth  concerning  them,  but  that 
they  were  wrote.  Many  other  considerable  letters 
of  Mr.  Bull's,  and  answers  to  them,  would  have 
entertained  the  reader  very  agreeably,  if  the  author 
had  not  been  too  intent  upon  his  studies  to  copy  the 
one,  and  too  negligent  to  preserve  the  others. 

XVII.  In  the  year  1669,  he  first  printed  that  ex-    1669. 
cellent  piece,  his  Apostolical  Harmony*,  &c.  which  ^Yi" first 
was  begun  by  him,  when  but  young1,  with  a  view  of^™1!* 

Apoatolica, 

h  Harmonia  Apostolica,   seu    binse  dissertationes,  quarum  in  &c. 
priore,  Doctrina  D.  Jacobi  de  Justificatione  ex  operibus  explana- 
tur  ac  defenditur ;  in  posteriore,  consensus  D.  Pauli  cum  Jacobo 
liquido  demonstratur,  &c. 

1  [At  the  age  of  twenty-six  or  twenty-seven.] 


80  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  settling  peace  in  the  church,  upon  a  point  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  all  its  members.  This  book 
he  dedicated  to  his  diocesan  the  bishop  of  Glouces 
ter,  Dr.  William  Nicholson,  a  very  proper  judge  and 
patron,  who  had  very  much  also  encouraged  and 
supported  him  in  this  work ;  for  he  was  not  willing, 
but  with  the  approbation  and  direction  of  his  supe 
rior  under  God,  to  adventure  into  the  world  upon 
an  undertaking  so  difficult  and  hazardous  as  this 
did  appear.  And  since  this  treatise  tendeth  so 
much  to  clear  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles  in  the 
fundamental  point  of  our  salvation,  and  to  shew  the 
exact  harmony  betwixt  them,  as  to  the  manner  of 
obtaining  it  by  Christ ;  and  will  also  be  of  no  small 
use  for  the  reading  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles  with  un 
derstanding;  I  shall  beg  leave  to  lay  before  the 
reader  a  distinct  plan  of  the  whole  ;  as  likewise  the 
causes  of  writing  it,  and  the  treatment  and  success 
it  met  with,  and  the  several  batteries  that  have 
been  raised  against  it ;  that  they  that  are  otherwise 
minded,  may  at  least  have  no  reason  to  complain, 
as  if  they  were  not  fairly  represented. 

An  account  Though  this  piece  was  not  printed  till  the  year 
'aforesaid,  yet  it  appeareth  to  have  been  k written 
eight  or  nine  years  before  ;  whereby  the  first  rise  and 
design  of  it  will  be  more  clearly  manifest,  than  it 
could  have  been,  had  we  not  known  in  what  a  notable 
juncture  of  our  affairs  the  same  was  composed.  For 
there  having  been,  during  the  unhappy  times  of  the 
great  rebellion,  a  vast  multitude  of  books  written 
upon  the  subject  of  justification,  by  the  hot  men  of 
the  several  parties,  some  of  whom,  in  treating  of  it, 

k  Apologia  pro  Harmonia,  &c.  sect.  8.  11.5. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  81 

leaned  too  much  to  Popery  or  Judaism,  others  to  An-    1669. 
tinomianism  and  Libertinism,  some  asrain  to  Pela^ian- 

o  o 

ism  and  Socinianism,  and  others,  lastly,  to  Manich seism 
and  Fatalism ;  all  very  dangerous  errors  :  and  abun 
dance  of  learned  sophistry  having  been  used  in  per 
plexing  the  plain  and  natural  sense  of  the  divinely 
inspired  writers;  and  several  hypotheses  moreover 
invented  purely  to  serve  a  turn,  which  did  but  the 
more  still  obscure  what  they  pretended  to  clear  up, 
and  set  at  a  wider  distance  those  whom  they  laboured 
to  reconcile  by  their  strained  and  metaphysical  sub- 
tilties ;  they  not  only  disagreeing  about  what  was 
meant  by  justification,  but  even  by  faith  and  by 
works,  and  indeed  about  every  term  that  is  made  use 
of  either  by  St.  Paul  or  by  St.  James  when  they  speak 
to  this  point :  and  so  feigning  one  apostle  to  write 
concerning  a  first,  and  the  other  concerning  a  second 
justification  ;  or  else  one  concerning  a  justification 
before  men  only,  and  the  other  concerning  the  same 
before  God ;  one  concerning  a  true,  the  other  con 
cerning  a  false  faith;  with  a  multitude  of  other 
groundless  inventions,  utterly  foreign  to  the  minds 
of  both  the  said  apostles  ;  and  many  foolish  contests 
having  been  startled  about  words,  that  could  have  no 
other  end  but  to  raise  a  dust ;  there  could  nothing 
come  forth  more  seasonably,  if  well  done,  than  a 
treatise  of  this  nature. 

Wherefore,  there  having  been  such  a  fierce  conten-  The  causes 

.    ,        ,          ,  .,  /.and  motives 

tion  raised  concerning  this  article,  by  the  writers  or of  his  ^it- 
controversy,  for  about  twenty  years  of  confusion  in in 
church  and  state,  not  to  mention  what  had  passed 
before  that  time  in  other  countries;  our  author  having 
been  then  about  five  years  in  holy  orders,  according 
to  the  church  of  England,  when  by  the  restoration  of 

G 


8<2  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  the  right  heir  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  father,  the 
~~  church  with  him  was  restored  to  her  former  rights ; 
though  he  then  wanted  above  three  years  of  thirty, 
thought  it,  however,  time  for  him  now  to  fix  his 
principles,  by  going  up  to  the  very  source,  and  by 
taking  a  fair  review,  according  to  the  holy  Scriptures 
and  primitive  antiquity,  of  such  a  point,  as  had 
evidently  contributed  to  several  great  revolutions, 
not  only  in  the  church,  but  also  in  the  l  kingdoms 
and  states  of  the  world  ;  and  might,  he  thought,  yet 
contribute  to  more  :  and  a  point  also  which  was  of 
the  utmost  consequence  to  be  rightly  understood  for 
the  guidance  of  conscience. 
A  particu-  To  the  consideration  of  which,  he  was  still  in  a 

lar  obhga-  t  . 

tion  laid     more  particular  manner  engaged  by  certain  circum- 
consider     stances  of  life ;  for  among  the  first  flock  that  was 
verssy°ntr°~  committed  to  his  charge  at  St.  George's  near  Bristol, 
there  were  not  a  few  wandering  sheep,  which  had 
been  misled  into  strange  paths,  through  their  not 
understanding  the  terms  of  the  evangelical  covenant, 
and    by   the  unwarrantable   confidence  of  false  in 
truding  shepherds  were  in  the  extremest  danger  of 
being  lost.     For  the  reduction  of  these  he  preached 
a  sermon  against  the  prevailing  antinornian  opinions, 
upon  St.  James  ii.  24,  which  leading  him  gradually 
to  a  deeper  inquiry  into  this  matter,  was,  as  I  gather 
from  his  premonition  to  the  reader,  the  first  occasion 
of  this  discourse. 
His  prepa-       Whereupon  he  read  over  the  New  Testament,  but 

ration  for  .    , ,        ,        „    .      . 

writing  it.  more  especially  the  Epistles,  with  this  view,  consult 
ing  the  ablest  commentators  as  he  went  along,  and 
weighing  their  arguments  indifferently,  without  re- 

1  Vid.  Tull.  Epist.  ded.  ad  Justifi.  Pauli,  et  Sleidan.  Com.  &c. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  8,<3 

spect  to  the  party,  or  communion  they  lived  in.  And  '669. 
still,  for  farther  satisfaction  of  what  was  believed  by 
the  primitive  Christians,  in  this  great  concern  for 
obtaining  a  title  to  eternal  happiness,  he  omitted  not 
to  consult  the  best  writers  of  antiquity  and  venerable 
lights  of  the  church.  With  the  same  view  was  the 
Liturgy,  the  Articles,  and  the  Homilies  of  our  church 
read  by  him  ;  and  diligently  compared  with  their 
established  rule,  the  written  word  of  God,  together 
with  the  truly  ancient  and  catholic  interpretations 
thereof.  This  let  him  into  several  other  controversies, 
as  depending  upon  this,  and  particularly  obliged  him 
to  a  survey  of  the  times  of  reformation,  and  of  the 
methods  that  were  then  taken  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  as  also  of  the  principal  characters  of  the  first 
reformers  ;  and  being  thus  qualified,  he  set  himself 
thoroughly  to  reexamine  this  cause,  which  gave  birth 
to  the  Reformation. 

Upon  this  review  then  of  the  controversy,  as  i 


Till-  •  i  11        which  he 

stood  both  betwixt  papists  and  protestants,  and  be-  took  incoi- 
tween  protestants  one  among  another,  he,  for  his  own  teriaif  " 
satisfaction,  digested  under  proper  places  or  heads,  all 
that  he  could  find  material  in  any  of  them,  relating 
to  this  evangelical  dispensation.  And  this  he  did 
not  only  that  he  might  form  a  right  judgment  upon 
them,  but  that  he  might  be  more  capable  of  dis 
charging  the  duty  of  his  place,  and  of  bringing  in 
some  others  likewise  to  the  discernment  and  acknow 
ledgment  of  the  truth  ;  which  was  hereby  made  so 
very  clear  to  him. 

But  being  sensible  that  too  much  had  been  written  HOW  he 

n      -i        came  to 

in  English  upon  this  subject;  and  that  most  or  what  write  in 
was  written  was  to  little  purpose,  except  to  divide 
and  distract  people's  minds;  he  therefore  drew  up  in 

r  9 


84  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  Latin  a  short  Harmony  of  the,  Apostles  as  to  this 
head,  that  it  might  be  thoroughly  considered  by  the 
men  of  learning  and  capacity,  reasonably  supposing, 
that  if  they  were  set  right  in  this  great  article,  it 
would  be  more  easily  propagated  among  the  vulgar 
and  unlearned.  For  this  end,  he  submitted  his  per 
formance  to  the  censure  of  his  learned  friends,  and 
(as  in  duty  he  thought  himself  chiefly  bound)  par 
ticularly  to  his  worthy  diocesan ;  to  which  at  length 
after  mature  deliberation  upon  the  whole,  and  think 
ing  it  over  and  over  again  many  times,  he  put  his 
last  hand,  being  then  in  the  thirty-sixth  year  of  his 
age,  and  sent  it  abroad  into  the  world  with  their 
approbation,  that  it  might  serve  as  a  manuduction 
to  the  candidates  of  divinity,  who  were  to  be  set 
apart  to  instruct  others. 

Thegenerai  XVIII.  This  book  consisteth  of  two  parts  or  dis- 
design  of  sertations  ;  the  first  of  these  explaineth  and  defendeth 
the  doctrine  of  St.  James ;  and  the  other  clearly,  I 
think,  demonstrates  the  argeement  and  harmony  of 
St.  Paul  with  him,  in  this  fundamental  point  of  our 
faith  and  hope.  But  more  particularly  his  aim  and 
design  in  the  first  dissertation  is  to  shew,  "  That 
"  good  works  which  proceed  from  faith,  and  are  con- 
"  joined  with  faith,  are  a  necessary  condition  required 
"  from  us  by  God,  to  the  end  that  by  the  new  and 
"  evangelical  covenant  obtained  by  and  sealed  in  the 
"  blood  of  Christ  the  Mediator  of  it,  we  may  be  jus- 
<k  tified  according  to  his  free  and  unmerited  grace." 
For  it  is  observable,  that  he  every  where  throughout 
this  treatise  openly  renounceth  all  pretence  to  any 
manner  of  merit  of  our  o\vn  works ;  even  so  far  as 
scarce  to  acknowledge  that  person  for  a  Christian  who 


tise. 


DR.  GEOKGE  BULL.  85 

should  advance  or  defend  merit,  properly  so  called;     1669. 


and  nothing  can  indeed  be  more  plain,  than  that  in 
the  whole  affair  of  our  salvation,  and  process  of  divine 
justification,  he  attributeth  all  to  the  meritorious  obe 
dience  of  the  holy  Jesus,  as  the  blessed  Author  and 
Finisher  of  it.  Of  which  obedience,  his  most  precious 
death  is,  by  our  most  excellent  harmonist,  declared 
to  be  the  consummation  and  utmost  completion  :  and 
to  it  are  here  ascribed  the  very  greatest  and  highest 
things,  that  it  was  even  possible  for  him  to  express. 
More  particularly, 

Of  this  meritorious  obedience  of  Christ  for  us  sin-  His  groat 
ners,  he  plainly  and  roundly  says,  that  this  alone  hath  trelitinVtil 
given  satisfaction  to  the  divine  justice  ;  that  this  alone  ^tijifa- 
rendereth  the  most  holy  and  most  righteous  God'1'0"- 
propitious  to  sinful  men ;  and  that  this  alone  is  the 
efficacious  cause  of  God's  promising  and  offering  us 
pardon  and  eternal  life  upon  so  very  reasonable  and 
equitable  a  condition,  as  in  the  Gospel  is  set  forth. 
And  he  constantly  moreover  teach  eth,  both  in  the 
very  Treatise  and  in  the  Apology  for  it,  "  That  no  man 
"  can,  without  divine  grace,  and  the  assistance  of  the 
"  Holy  Spirit,  as  flowing  forth  from  the  precious  side 
"  of  the  crucified  Jesus,  perform  the  condition  of  the 
"  Gospel-covenant."  And,  in  a  word,  he  most  severely 
anathematizes  the  Pelagian  heresy,  as  it  is  received 
by  the  Socinians  and  others,  for  derogating  from  the 
grace  of  God,  and  ascribing  too  much  to  the  power 
of  man  in  his  fallen  estate  :  and  most  frequently  cele 
brates  the  praise  of  this  divine  grace  so  perfectly  ac 
cording  to  the  mind  of  St.  Paul,  and  the  declaration 
of  the  church  of  England,  both  in  her  Articles  and 
Homilies,  that  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  any 
one  can  do  it  more. 


86  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.         But  notwithstanding  all  this  caution  of  his,  in  the 


-  treating  of  this  point,  that  had  been  rendered  so  ab- 
some  pro-    struse,  more  by  the  laborious  disputations  of  divines, 
vin^'tare-  tnan  by  the  nature  of  the  thing  itself,  or  of  the  reve- 
upon.         lation  concerning  it ;  there  was  presently  no  small 
alarm  both  in  the  church  and  out  of  it,  from  Mr. 
Bull's  performance,  as  if  the  church  of  England,  and 
the  whole  protestant  religion  were  by  it,  in  danger. 
For  his  departing  herein  from  the  private  opinions  of 
some  doctors  of  our  church,  though  in  obedience  to 
her  ride,  wras  by  several  interpreted  for  no  less  than  a 
departing  from  the  faith  by  her  delivered ;  and  his 
method  of  reconciling  the  two  apostles  of  our  Lord, 
how  plain  soever  in  itself,  could  not  be  made  so  plain, 
but  that  many  being  zealously  affected  for  the  names 
of  Luther  and  Calvin,  whom  they  honoured  as  the 
two  apostles  of  the  reformation,  \vould  be  ready  to 
take  offence  at  it ;  as  the  event  indeed  proved. 
The  occa-        Upon  an  impartial  inquiry  into  the  grounds  of  this 
grounds  of  offence  taken,  it  evidently  appeared,  that  this  was  the 
tirfaction.    very  chief  stone  of  stumbling,  viz.,  the  honour  of  the 
first   reformers.     And    it    seemeth,   moreover,    that 
this  essay  for  union,  by  taking  the  middle  way,  could 
not  please  any  of  those  zealous  gentlemen,  who  never 
can  think  themselves  safe  enough  from  one  extreme 
without  they  run  into  the  other.     Some  there  were 
more  wise  and  learned  than  the  rest,  who  yet  approved 
it  not,  that  they  might  not  appear  guilty  of  innovat 
ing,  as  they  called  it.     And  it  could  not  be  digested 
by  them,  either  because  it  was  not  at  first  so  very  per 
fectly  understood  by  several  of  our  own  divines,  any 
more  than  by  the  dissenters  from  our  communion,  as 
most  of  the  presbyterians,  and  many  independents 
and    anabaptists;    or   else    because    the    prejudices 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  87 

which  a  great  many  worthy  persons  among  us  had  1669. 
sucked  in  from  the  narrow  systems  of  modern  di- 
vinity,  and  who  had,  during  the  great  Rebellion  in 
church  and  state,  been  educated  in  the  predestinarian 
and  antinomian  notions,  were  too  strong  for  them  en 
tirely  to  overcome,  even  with  the  help  of  the  clearest 
light. 

Hence  in  the  same  year  there  arose  in  the  church 
no  small  contention,  whether  this  interpretation  of  chm-ch  of  e 
Scripture  were  conformable  to  the  Articles  of 


gion,  and  the  Homily  of  Justification  therein  referred  ^present- 
to  ;  some  maintained  with  our  author  that  it  was ; 
some  doubted  about  it,  and  others  downright  denied 
it,  and  condemned  it  as  heretical.  There  was  many 
a  hard  censure  passed  upon  the  book,  and  the  author 
for  some  time,  which  is  not  to  be  wondered  at ;  yea, 
there  were  not  wanting  then  even  men  of  some 
eminence  in  our  church,  who  with  all  their  might 
opposed  him,  probably  out  of  a  well-meant  zeal, 
and  would  certainly  have  overwhelmed  him  and  his 
doctrine,  had  it  been  possible. 

But  such,  it  appears,  was  the  strength  and  evi- The  effect 
dence  of  his  arguments,  after  the  severest  examina-  contention 
tion  that  could  be  made  of  them,  as  he  daily  wonprodui 
more  and  more  friends  to  his  side ;  and  the  greatness 
of  the   opposition  against    him   did    but   the   more 
contribute  to  establish  the  truth,  among  all  the  sober 
and  candid  inquirers  after  it ;   which  could  be  only 
opposed  because  not  rightly  apprehended  and  stated. 
And  how  successfully  he  hath  done  this,  I  shall  leave 
the  reader  to  consider,  not  from  the  imperfect  abstract 
which  is  here  given,  but  from  the  effects  they  have 
manifestly   produced,   and    that    general    conviction 
which  hath  commonly  followed  the  Harmony  itself, 


88  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.    with  the  Apology  for  it.     Some  of  the  effects  I  may 


have  hereafter  occasion  to  mention.  So  that  it  shall 
here  suffice  to  observe,  in  short,  that  they  of  the 
English  clergy,  who  were  the  least  favourable  to  it, 
became  the  greatest  promoters  of  it,  while  by  all  their 
endeavours  to  suppress  it,  they  made  it  effectually  to 
spread  the  more,  when  the  matter  came  to  be  duly 
and  impartially  scanned  without  those  metaphysical 
niceties,  which  have  only  served  to  perplex  a  cause 
that  might  be  understood  without  them.  The  opin 
ion  of  some  private  doctors  was  at  this  time  artfully 
cried  up  for  the  judgment  of  the  church  of  England; 
and  such  an  exposition  was  given  to  some  of  her  Ar 
ticles,  even  against  her  own  authentic  interpretation 
of  them,  as  might  set  her  at  a  still  greater  distance 
from  the  church  of  Rome. 

The  advan-  The  best  of  it  is,  this  contention  was  of  no  long 
Ajf^BuH's0 continuance:  for  not  long  after  this  treatise  was 
printed,  and  received  with  much  applause  on  one 
side,  and  contradiction  on  the  other ;  the  sense  of 
the  church  of  England,  as  it  is  founded  upon  the 
word  of  God,  came  to  be  cleared  up,  by  the  care  and 
diligence  of  those  who  were  excited  hereby,  much 
better  than  ever  it  had  been  before  :  and  by  the  sober 
manner  of  treating  this  controversy  in  both  these  dis 
sertations,  and  the  author's  most  serious  protestation 
and  appeal  to  Heaven,  it  pleased  God  to  cool,  by- 
degrees,  the  minds  of  some,  which  had  been  heated 
about  this  matter  over-much,  through  the  intem 
perance  of  a  truly  laudable  concern  for  the  victory  of 
faith  :  and  to  win  over  others  entirely  to  the  acknow 
ledgment  of  the  truth,  which  is  according  to  right 
eousness  and  godliness,  who  had  been  before  but 
too  averse  to  it,  out  of  jealousy  of  making  void  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  89 

Gospel  of  Christ,  and  of  setting  np  instead  thereof  a  1669. 
certain  mixture  of  Judaism  and  Christianity ;  for  so 
this  was  misrepresented  to  be.  But  the  vanity  of 
the  charge,  as  also  that  of  popery,  was  soon  made 
evident  to  as  many  as  would  be  content  to  read  with 
their  own  eyes,  which  many  did  labour  to  affright 
them  from. 

XIX.  In  the  year  1670,  there  were  some  animad-  Animad 
versions  of  a  learned  divine  made  upon  this  treatise ;  o^h'i 
which  he,  concealing  his  name,  communicated  in  ma 
nuscript  to  several  of  the  bishops,  at  the  same  time 
stirring  them  up  by  letter  to  make  use  of  their  apo 
stolical  authority  in  thundering  out  their  anathemas 
against  the  doctrines  here  maintained,  as  pernicious 
and  heretical,  and  contrary  to  the  decrees  of  the 
church  of  England,  and  of  all  other  reformed  churches; 
who  was  quickly  seconded  in  this  by  some  others 
partly  known,  and  partly  unknown,  of  whom  some 
that  understood  but  little  of  the  matter,  were,  as  it 
often  happens,  the  hottest  of  all  against  him,  and 
were  for  pushing  things  to  the  utmost  extremity ; 
but  moderate  counsels  prevailed  for  the  most  part, 
and  the  governors  of  the  church  were  so  wise,  as  not 
to  intermeddle  farther  in  this  affair,  than  to  keep  the 
peace  of  the  church  committed  to  them. 

There  was  indeed  one  great  and  good  bishop,  who,  The  o 
for  reasons  I  am  not  well  acquainted  with,  proceeded  w'ith  from 
much  farther  than  any  of  the  rest  of  his  order.    This S,£"lsi" 
was  Dr.  Morley  bishop  of  Winchester,  who,  whatever™6"™ the 
his  own  private  opinion  might  be  of  the  matter,  seems 
to  have  been  utterly  against  the  reviving  a  debate  of 
this  kind  at  all,  upon  any  pretence  whatsoever,  and 
not  to  have  been  so  well  satisfied,  as  some  of  his 


90  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  brethren,  with  this  performance  of  an  author,  who 
had  done  nothing1  before  this  to  signalize  himself, 
and  whose  youth  was  too  great  a  prejudice  for  many 
to  iret  over.  But  whatever  were  his  motives  for  so 

O 

doing,  this  learned  bishop,  in  a  pastoral  charge  to  the 
clergy  of  his  diocese,  at  his  visitation,  thought  fit  to 
warn  them  against  intruding  too  rashly  into  things 
above  them,  and  to  prohibit  them  the  reading  of  this 
book,  or  preaching  according  to  it.  Some  heads  of 
houses  in  the  two  universities  were  also  of  the  bi 
shop's  mind :  and  there  were  some  tutors  too,  that 
thought  it  incumbent  on  them  to  guard  their  pupils 
from  the  danger  of  what  appeared  to  them,  an  inno 
vation  in  the  church.  Dr.  Barlow  and  Dr.  Tully 
were  among  the  most  zealous  to  oppose  the  pacific 
method  for  reconciling  the  different  systems  about 
attaining  salvation,  by  their  rigid  adherence  to  cer 
tain  tenets  by  them  formerly  imbibed,  and  to  some 
scholastic  terms  unsupported  either  by  Scripture  or 
antiquity.  But  though  the  first  of  these  read  public 
lectures  against  the  Harmonia  Apostolica,  from  the 
divinity-chair;  and  though  the  other  made  it  his 
business  to  answer  it  at  large  from  the  press ;  yet  it 
failed  not  to  make  its  way  through  all  opposition  and 
contradiction,  and  to  gain  continually  more  and  more 
ground,  as  it  came  hereby  to  be  more  read  and  con 
sidered.  And  so  in  a  very  few  years  the  strife  ceased ; 
forasmuch  as  the  victory  was  at  last  so  complete,  as 
none  were  found  able  to  rally  their  forces  in  this 
cause  against  our  judicious  harmonizer.  This  is  what 
is  known  to  have  passed  within  the  church,  as  to  the 
establishment  of  the  peace  thereof  in  this  point,  even 
as  it  is  at  this  day.  As  to  what  passed  without  in 
relation  to  it,  there  is  but  little  to  be  said  here  ; 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  91 

perhaps  there  may  somewhat  occur  in  the  progress  1669. 
of  this  account,  which  will  give  sufficient  satisfaction. 
However,  the  weapons  of  them  within,  and  those 
without,  are  the  very  same  ;  and  by  knowing  the 
strength  of  the  one,  we  cannot  be  strangers  to  that 
of  the  other. 

The  author  m  of  the  Animadversions  before  men-  And  from 
tioned,  commonly  cited  under  the  name  of  the  Cfew-therhalf- 


sura,  was  the  son  of  a  very  learned  presbyterian,  and  OT  mra!*o 
strictly  educated  in  those  distinguishing  doctrines  formists> 
which  had  lately  been  ratified  by  the  Westminster 
Assembly.  And  the  very  first  man  that  publicly  ap 
peared  in  print  for  these  doctrines,  against  the  book 
of  the  Apostolical  Harmony,  was  Mr.  Joseph  Truman, 
a  non-conformist  minister,  after  whom  came  out 
Dr.  Tully's  answer  to  it.  And  last  of  all,  Mr.  John 
Tombes  of  Bewdly,  a  famous  anabaptist  preacher, 
on  the  part  of  the  dissenters,  undertook  the  same 
cause  ;  as  if  the  very  foundation  of  the  reformation 
were  struck  at  by  this  attempt. 

XX.  Now  as  the  method  of  our  author  was  always  A  review  of 
to  seek  truth  at  the  fountain-head  ;  whatever  respect  tbr  deter- 
he  might  have  for  our  first  reformers,  and  some  other  ^""^o/st. 
great  divines,  both  foreigners  and  natives,  he  could  James- 
by  no  means  take  up  with  their  authority,  though 
never  so  pompously  set  off;  but  was  for  going  di 
rectly  to  the  very  originals  themselves,  and  for  con 
sulting  the  most   ancient  and  unexceptionable  wit 
nesses,  where  any  difference  might  happen  to  arise 
concerning  them.     Accordingly  he  betakes  himself, 
in  the  very  first  place,  to  the  holy  Scriptures  ;  and 

m  [Charles  Gataker,  son  of  Thomas  Gataker.] 


92  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  here  he  prudently  beginneth  with  that  which  is  ob- 
~~  vious  and  plain,  rather  than  with  that  which  is  am 
biguous  and  obscure  :  and  so  findeth  in  the  simplicity 
of  St.  James,  a  key  to  the  $v<rvoyTa  of  St.  Paul,  those 
hard  passages  of  which  St.  Peter  makes  mention.  At 
least,  there  are  such  reasons  for  him  to  conclude  that 
he  hath  found  this  key,  as  do  bear  the  greatest  re 
semblance  of  truth  ;  for  there  appeareth  nothing  more 
simple  and  easy  to  be  understood,  than  the  plain  pro 
position  of  St.  James,  "  "That  by  deeds  a  man  is  jus- 
"  tiffed,  or  that  just  works  declare  a  man  just,  and 
"  not  his  faith  only,  let  it  be  never  so  right  and  or- 
"  thodox."  It  is  also  that  declaration  of  St.  Paul  ° 
himself,  which  he  made  at  Antioch,  that  is  by  some 
of  our  learned  men  looked  upon  as  the  sum  and  sub 
stance  of  the  whole  Gospel  :  "  He  thereby  testifying, 
"  that  through  Christ  alone  we  are  to  expect  justifi- 
"  cation  and  remission  of  sins  ;  and  consequently, 
"  that  by  our  submission  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  not 
"  to  the  Law  of  Moses,  we  are  acquitted  by  him,  and 
"  placed  in  the  number  of  the  righteous" 
Thepropo-  And  to  make  this  yet  more  plain,  he  states  and 
james°far  ".'  defends  the  proper  sense  of  the  word  SIKOUOVV,  against 


^earned  Grotius  ;  vindicating  herein  our  trans 
lators,  by  whom  it  is  rightly  rendered,  to  justify. 
And  here,  by  many  testimonies  both  out  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  he  proveth,  that  it  must  needs 
signify  such  an  act  of  God  as  is  properly  judicial; 
whereby  he  acquitteth  the  person  accused,  and  by  the 
law  of  grace  in  Christ,  receiveth  such  an  one  to  his 
favour,  as  if  he  were  innocent,  and  perfectly  just.  So 
that  the  principal  cause  of  such  justification  is,  in 

n  Chap.  ii.  o  Acts  xiii.  38,  39. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  93 

the  author's  words,  mera  et  yratuita  Dei  Pair  is  1669. 
miser icor dia ;  "the  mere  and  free  grace  of  Cod  the 
"  Father :"  the  meritorious  cause  of  it  is,  the  obedi 
ence  of  Christ  both  active  and  passive.  And  works  of 
righteousness  are,  according  to  him,  not  properly 
any  cause  at  all  thereof,  but  merely  a  condition, 
sine  qua  non,  as  the  schools  love  to  speak,  by  God 
required  in  the  evangelical  covenant.  This  obser 
vation  he  draweth  from  the  use  of  the  particle  e£,  as 
it  is  applied  by  St.  James  to  works,  and  by  St.  Paul 
to  faith. 

Having  thus  explained  the  proposition  of  this  first  This  expii- 
dissertation,  according  to  the  mind  of  the  apostle, 
he  proceedeth  next  to  establish  the  truth  thereof  by 
several  arguments.  The  first  of  which  is  taken  from 
the  express  testimony  of  holy  Scripture  ;  the  second, 
from  the  very  notion  itself  of  justification  ;  the  third, 
from  the  nature  of  faith ;  the  fourth,  from  the  pro 
ceedings  of  God  in  the  day  of  judgment ;  and  the 
fifth,  from  the  implicit  confession  of  the  very  adver 
saries  themselves  to  this  doctrine. 

XXI.  Now,  under  the  first  head,  which  is  the  tcs-  Argument 

f    n  111  i  c  *^e  first> 

timony  oj  scripture,  he  hath  two  classes  or  texts,  from  the 
serving  for  confirmation  of  this  doctrine,  as  before  |)fShdyny 
represented.     The  former  is  of  those  texts  and  pas- Scr)Pture- 
sages  that  speak   in  general  of  good  works,   or  of 
righteousness,  as  of  a  condition  that  tendeth  to  make 
us  accepted  of  God,  through  his  grace.     And  of  this 
kind  there  are  abundance  of  very  obvious  ones  in 
the  Prophets,  in  the  Gospels,  and  in  the  Epistles. 
So  that  every  one  that  runneth,  may  read,  how  ac 
ceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  holiness   is  ;  and  find 
that  obedience   is  no   less   necessary  than   faith,   to 


94  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  attain  eternal  life.  The  latter  class  is  of  those  texts, 
in  which  some  special  works,  as  absolutely  necessary 
to  salvation  or  justification,  are  required  of  us  by 
God.  And  of  this  sort,  there  are  found  also  many 
clear  and  express  passages,  which  one  would  think 
very  sufficient  fully  to  determine  this  matter.  As 
particularly,  all  those  places  deserve  to  be  noted, 
which  require  repentance  as  a  disposition,  without 
which  none  is  capable  of  obtaining  the  forgiveness 
of  his  sins  from  God  :  forasmuch  as  these  so  evi 
dently  refer  to  the  evangelical  state,  as  to  deny  the 
same,  would  be  to  deny  the  whole  Gospel.  Now, 
under  repentance,  he  will  have  to  be  comprehended 
these  following  good  acts,  viz.,  a  true  sorrow  for  sins 
past,  an  humiliation  under  the  righteous  hand  of 
God,  an  hatred  and  detestation  of  sin,  a  confession 
of  it,  an  earnest  supplication  for  divine  grace  and 
mercy,  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  a  ceasing  from  evil, 
a  firm  purpose  of  new  obedience,  restitution  of  what 
hath  been  unjustly  gotten,  forgiveness  of  all  them 
who  may  have  trespassed  against  us;  and  lastly, 
works  of  beneficence  and  charity.  Then  he  proveth, 
after  this,  that  there  is  the  very  same  regard  had 
always  by  God  to  faith  and  repentance,  in  the  par 
doning  of  a  sinner.  And  farther,  that  the  faith, 
whereof  in  the  New  Testament  there  are  so  great 
and  glorious  things  pronounced,  is  not  to  be  taken 
for  a  single  Christian  virtue  or  grace,  but  for  the 
whole  body  and  collection  of  the  divine  virtues  and 
graces,  or,  for  a  life  according  to  the  Gospel.  Nay, 
he  sheweth,  that  when  it  is  taken  in  that  particular 
and  limited  sense,  it  is  so  far  from  being  the  instru 
mental  cause  of  our  justification,  as  some  pretend, 
that  it  hath  not  so  much  as  the  chief  place  among 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  95 

those  qualifications  that  concur  to  make  us  accept-  1669. 
able  to  God ;  it  being  ranked,  even  by  St.  Paul  him- 
self,  but  in  the  third  order,  as  inferior  not  only  to 
charity,  but  even  to  hope.  However,  though  faith 
be  lesser  than  charity  in  one  respect,  he  readily  yet 
grants  that  in  another  respect  it  is  greater  than 
charity,  namely,  as  it  is  the  foundation  both  of  that, 
and  of  all  the  rest  of  the  Christian  virtues;  and 
though  faith  doth  not  necessarily  beget  them ;  yet 
that  it  is  apt,  and  in  its  own  nature  disposed  so  to 
do.  The  sacred  texts  of  the  first  class  by  him  in 
sisted  upon  for  the  proof  of  his  proposition,  are  these 
out  of  the  Old  Testament;  Isa.  i.  16,  17*  18.  and 
Ezek.  xxxiii.  14,  15,  16.  and  out  of  the  New  Testa 
ment,  first,  the  words  of  Christ  himself,  in  John  xiv. 
21,  23.  and  xv.  14.  and  next  to  him,  those  of  his 
apostles,  in  Acts  x.  34,  35.  1  John  i.  7-  Heb.  x.  8,  9- 
1  Cor.  vi.  11.  and  1  Peter  i.  2.  besides  James  ii.  24. 
So  that  an  appeal  is  here  made  to  the  testimony  of 
two  witnesses  under  the  Law,  persons  of  a  most 
eminent  prophetical  character;  and  to  that  of  our 
Lord  under  the  Gospel,  accompanied  not  only  with 
his  disciples,  Peter,  James,  and  John,  attesting  the 
same  truth,  but  also  with  the  apostles  of  the  uncir- 
cumcision,  and  most  zealous  assertors  of  Christian 
liberty.  These  texts  are  all  clearly  explained  and 
vindicated  from  the  exceptions  of  certain  metaphy 
sical  disputants :  and  to  these  are  also  added  several 
other  by  the  judicious  amwtator,  that  are  no  less 
strong.  Those  of  the  second  class  are  above  twenty, 
of  which  I  shall  only  mention  the  first  and  the  last, 
than  which  nothing  can  be  well  more  decisive ;  that 
Acts  ii.  38.  as  in  the  name  of  the  whole  apostolical 
college,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  them, 


96  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  and  not  of  St.  Peter  only  ;  and  this  Heb.  xiii.  16.  as 
the  undoubted  sense  both  of  them,  and  their  brother 
Paul,  and  of  the  whole  Christian  church  both  He 
brew  and  Gentile.  Upon  which  he  cites  a  saying  of 
St.  Chrysostom,  That  without  works  of  mercy  re 
pentance  is  dead,  and  illustrates  it  by  the  practice 
of  the  ancient  church  at  their  receiving  of  penitents. 
Which  is  confirmed  also  by  his  explication  of  Dan. 
iv.  27.  according  to  the  oriental  custom  of  speech ; 
wherein  he  followeth  Grotius,  and  prefers  here  the 
interpretation  of  the  Seventy  to  our  English  transla 
tion,  as  more  nearly  approaching  the  propriety  of 
the  Chaldee  original.  For  the  Chaldee  pherak  is 
the  same  as  the  Hebrew  phadah,  signifying  to  re 
deem  :  and  the  vulgar  Latin  agreeably  renders  it, 
peccata  tua  eleemosynis  redime.  For  as  nothing  is 
more  certain  than  that  he  shall  have  judgment 
without  mercy,  who  hath  shewed  no  mercy,  so  on 
the  other  side  it  is  equally  certain,  that  mercy  re- 
joiceth  against  judgment;  and  this  rejoicing  can 
never  be  without  justification.  As  for  the  trifling 
distinction  of  mite  and  ad,  in  this  controversy,  by 
which  it  is  pretended  that  works  indeed  of  mercy 
and  righteousness  are  necessary  before  but  not  ne 
cessary  unto  justification ;  it  is  here  so  baffled,  both 
by  the  author  and  by  his  annotator,  as  there  can 
scarce  be  a  greater  evidence  of  a  bad  cause,  than 
to  have  recourse  to  such  poor  shifts  and  slender 
evasions. 


Argument       XXII.  Under  the  next  head  his  method  to  esta- 

the  second, 

from  the  ju-bhsh  this   doctrine,  as  explained   and    defended  by 

ridical  no-       ,  .  ,.  .  n     . 

tion  of  jus-  the  testimony  aforesaid,  is  from  the  notion  and  na 
ture  of  justification,  as  exercised  in  courts  of  judi- 


DR.  GEORGE  MILL.  97 

cature.  Where  he  observeth,  that  in  every  judicial  1669. 
process  there  must  be,  1 .  a  judge,  who  is  to  pro- 
Dounce  the  sentence :  2.  a  prisoner,  or  criminal, 
who  is  called  to  his  trial :  and,  3.  a  law,  or  rule, 
according  to  which  the  sentence  must  be  pronounced, 
either  for  or  against  the  prisoner  at  the  bar.  And 
in  perfect  analogy  to  this  sort  of  proceeding  in  hu 
man  courts,  he  takes  notice,  that  if  any  man  be  said 
to  be  justified  in  the  sight  of  God,  whether  it  be  by 
the  works  of  the  law,  or  by  faith  in  Christ ;  in  this 
case  the  prisoner  that  pleadeth  at  the  bar  is  man ; 
the  judge  is  God ;  and  the  rule  according  to  which 
judgment  is  passed,  is  either  the  law  of  Moses  on 
one  side,  or  the  law  of  Christ  on  the  other,  the 
which  is  otherwise  called  the  P  law  of  faith ;  since 
no  man  can  judicially  be  pronounced  just,  unless  he 
be  duly  acquitted  according  to  the  rule  of  that  law 
whereby  he  is  judged,  whether  that  law  be  the  Mo- 
saical  or  the  Christian.  Which  latter  he  interpreteth 
to  be  the  very  moral  law  of  God,  as  expounded  and 
perfected  by  Christ  on  the  mount,  and  expressly 
ratified  by  his  own  divine  sanction,  Matt.  vii.  24, 
&c.  And  which  is  distinguished  from  the  Mosaical 
law  of  ceremonial  observances  by  several  names ;  as, 
the  perfect  law,  the  royal  law,  the  law  of  liberty, 
and  the  like ;  meaning  hereby  that  law  which  is 
perfective  of  human  nature,  is  a  law  given  us  by  the 
mouth  of  Christ  our  King,  and  is  conducive  to  our 
true  liberty ;  that  is,  to  a  liberty  not  only  from  the 
voke  of  Jewish  ceremonies  and  ordinances,  but  also 

•/ 

from  the  guilt  and  penalty  of  sin,  and  chiefly  from 
the    dominion    and    tyranny  thereof  in   our   flesh; 

P  Rom.  iii.  27. 
H 


98  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  through  the  assistance  of  Christ's  Spirit,  helping 
~  herein  our  infirmities,  that  we  may  fulfil  the  same. 
Whereupon  not  only  the  loose  principles  of  the  anti- 
nomians,  libertines,  familists,  and  others  of  that  sort, 
are  by  him  deservedly  exploded :  but  they  who  al 
low  their  principles,  and  yet  reject  their  conclusion, 
are  fairly  warned  of  the  dangerous  consequences 
which  they  seem  not  to  apprehend ;  and  the  injudi 
cious  method  of  some  protestant  divines,  in  their 
controversies  with  the  papists  on  this  point,  is  taxed 
as  it  deserves. 

Argument  The  third  argument,  that  justification  is  not  by 
itonfthe'  ^tn  al°ne>  m  tne  strict  acceptation  of  the  word,  is 
notion  and  taken  from  the  consideration  of  the  very  nature  of 

nature  of 

faith.  faith.,  and  of  the  several  acts  that  are  generally  as 
signed  to  it.  And  the  sum  of  his  argument  is,  that 
faith,  per  se,  or  considered  as  distinct  from  the  rest 
of  the  Christian  virtues,  hath  nothing  in  the  nature 
of  it,  but  what  may  well  enough  consist  with  an 
ungodly  and  unjustified  person.  For  the  acts  of 
faith  being  by  divines  generally  distributed  into 
these  three,  1.  knowledge;  2.  assent;  and  3.  reli 
ance;  he  handleth  each  of  these  distinctly,  and 
clearly  proveth,  that  not  one  of  them  hath  a  natural 
aptitude  to  justify  a  sinner,  or  a  characteristic  to 
distinguish  a  reprobate  from  a  saint.  And  there 
being  no  act  of  faith  nakedly  and  per  se  considered, 
to  which  justification  is  necessarily  joined ;  since 
knowledge  without  practice,  the  assent  of  the  mind 
without  the  love  of  the  heart,  and  the  reliance  upon 
the  promises  of  the  Gospel,  without  the  sincere  en 
deavour  of  performing  the  conditions  of  it,  are  of  no 
worth  before  God;  he  concludeth  that  we  ought 
firmly  to  believe,  that  no  person  can  be  justified  in 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  99 

the  sight  of  God  by  faith  alone,  (as  it  is  strictly  1669. 
taken,)  without  the  other  virtues,  which  Christ  hath" 
required  together  with  it  in  order  to  that  end.  Par 
ticularly  he  sheweth,  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  may  be  had  by  the  wicked, 
as  well  as  the  most  righteous.  That  there  may  be 
an  assent  also  given  to  the  truth  of  it  by  reprobates, 
yea  even  by  devils ;  and  that,  lastly,  there  may  be  a 
reliance  on  the  promise  of  it,  either  conditional  or 
absolute,  by  them  that  are  certainly  in  a  bad  estate : 
nay  that  it  is  not  impossible  to  have  all  faith,  and 
the  very  highest  degrees  thereof,  and  yet  to  remain 
still  but  in  a  doubtful  and  dangerous  condition. 
And  having  very  solidly  treated  this  matter  in  all 
the  several  branches  thereof,  the  reverend  author 
telleth  his  reader  what  the  true  and  Christian  reli 
ance  by  faith  properly  is,  and  wherein  consisteth 
the  only  assurance  of  our  salvation.  This  is  fully 
argued  from  that  famous  passage  in  St.  John's 
first  Epistle,  iii.  19,  20,  21,  which  is  brought  also 
as  a  farther  confirmation  of  his  hypothesis,  that 
seemeth  hence  to  be  no  other  than  the  catholic 
and  apostolical  explication  of  the  divine  economy 
towards  man. 

XXIII.  His  fourth  argument  for  the  proof  of  it,  Argument 
is  taken  from  the  nature  and  manner  of  God's  pro-fnm,°God's 
ceeding  in  the  day  of  judgment.  From  which  he  thus  f^ 
reasoneth,  that  every  one  shall  be  judged  by  God  in 
the  world  to  come,  after  the  same  manner  as  he  is 
in  this  present  world  justified  by  him :  and  that 
therefore  since  every  one  is  to  be  judged  at  the 
last  day  by  works,  (according  to  Matt.  xxv.  21,  &c., 
compared  with  chap.  xii.  36,  37.  Rom.  ii.  6,  13. 

H  2 


100  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  1  Cor.  iii.  13.  iv.  4,  5.)  and  not  by  faith  alone,  with- 
~~  out  works ;  every  one  that  is  justified  by  God  in  this 
life,  must  be  also  justified  after  the  same  manner, 
that  is,  by  works,  not  by  faith  alone.  For  the  judg 
ment  of  God  is  the  same  in  the  one  as  in  the  other, 
and  changeth  not.  This  I  take  to  be  the  sum  of  his 
argument ;  still  understanding  by  faith,  both  here 
and  throughout  the  whole  controversy,  that  which 
is  strictly  and  simply  so  called,  and  which  is  com 
prehended  under  all  the  three  acts  or  degrees  men 
tioned  in  the  former  argument.  Now  he  takes  here 
the  middle  way,  after  Vossius  and  Grotius,  in  ex 
plaining  Christ's  solemn  and  declarative  justification 
of  his  saints  at  the  great  day ;  which  ought  well  to 
be  observed.  For  he  will  not  allow  this  to  be  by 
works,  either  as  to  the  meritorious  cause  of  it,  as 
some  do  hold  ;  or  as  the  signs  of  faith,  as  others  do 
maintain;  the  one  being  in  his  opinion  too  much, 
and  the  other  too  little.  Wherefore  there  must  be 
somewhat  betwixt  these  two,  according  to  the  prin 
ciples  by  him  laid  down.  The  justification  of  the 
righteous  in  this  world  and  the  next  being  both  of 
the  same  nature,  according  to  his  proof  both  from 
Scripture  and  the  common  sense  (as  well  as  con 
science)  of  mankind,  he  calleth  the  first  of  these 
constitutive,  and  the  second  he  calleth  declarative; 
and  evidently  sheweth  the  one  of  these  to  be  the 
rule  to  the  other,  and  both  to  be  subject  to  the  very 
same  laws  and  manner  of  process ;  and  only  to  differ 
in  this,  that  the  one  is  privately,  the  other  publicly 
transacted.  This  is  set  in  a  true  light  both  by 
reason  and  Scripture.  Also  the  two  acts  of  the 
sovereign  Judge,  in  his  last  and  more  solemn  justi 
fication  of  the  righteous,  are  by  him  here  rightly 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  101 

distinguished.  And  in  this  last,  both  his  declaring  1669. 
them  just,  and  his  appointing  them  consequently  a 
reward  thereupon,  according  to  what  is  made  appear 
in  that  day,  is  here  proved  perfectly  to  answer  to 
the  manner  and  constitution  of  the  first ;  which 
St.  Paul  <i  calls  his  Gospel,  and  St.  James1"  the  perfect 
law  of  liberty.  Whence  he  concludeth,  that  good 
works  must  be  more  than  merely  the  signs  of  faith ; 
forasmuch  as  a  sign  is  always  less  than  the  thing 
signified.  But  charity  that  performeth  these  good 
works,  is,  if  we  may  believe  St.  Paul  himself,  greater 
than  faith ;  and  by  works  also  faith  is  made  perfect, 
even  as  it  was  in  Abraham,  and  in  all  the  saints. 

Therefore  from  the  proceeding  of  God  in  the  day 
of  judgment,  wherein  his  faithful  servants  shall  be 
publicly  justified,  not  only  by  their  faith,  but  by 
their  works  also ;  and  wherein  both  the  first  act  of 
the  supreme  Judge  for  pronouncing  them  just,  and 
the  second  for  decreeing  them  a  suitable  reward, 
shall  have  respect  to  the  works  they  shall  have 
wrought  in  the  flesh,  in  obedience  to  the  new  cove 
nant  ;  it  is  evident,  that  the  works  of  charity,  which 
make  faith  perfect,  are  more  than  the  bare  signs  of 
it,  as  some  divines  would  pretend ;  and  that  charity, 
which  is  the  root  of  them,  and  is,  without  contro 
versy,  greater  than  faith,  the  Holy  Ghost  witnessing 
as  much,  must  be  greater,  for  certain,  than  to  be  a 
sign  only  of  faith.  So  then  charity,  and  works  pro 
ceeding  from  it,  being  more  than  a  sign  of  faith,  but 
not  so  much  a  meritorious  cause,  it  will  follow,  that 
we  may  so  avoid  both  the  extremes,  as  yet  not  to 
deny,  but  that  good  works  are  a  condition,  without 

q  Rom.  ii.  1 6.  r  Chap.  i.  25. 


102  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  which  none  can  be  justified  by  God  either  in  this 
"life  or  the  next,  according  to  the  terms  of  his 
covenant.  And  if  there  be  any  degree  of  moral 
instrumentality,  as  they  term  it,  in  faith,  for  the 
attainment  of  this  blessed  end,  the  same  cannot  be 
altogether  wanting  in  this  most  excellent  gift  of 
charity,  or  in  the  obedience  which  is  founded  upon 
it,  and  is  the  fulfilling  and  perfection  of  that  faith 
which  pleaseth  God.  The  appeal  is  here  made  to 
the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  and  to  his  own  express 
declaration  concerning  the  process  of  that  great 
day.  And  certainly  if  his  words  have  any  weight 
with  us,  they  must  leave  no  small  impression  upon 
us  in  favour  of  the  doctrine  here  contended  for, 
and  so  strenuously  defended  by  this  great  and  good 
man. 

Argument  His  fifth  and  last  argument  is  taken  from  the 
from  the  implicit  consent  of  all  parties,  and  from  the  very 
^adTer™-  confession  of  adversaries  to  this  doctrine.  And  here 
ries.  he  justifies  the  public  confessions  of  the  reformed 
churches  in  this  point,  as  being  all  or  most  of  them 
on  his  side  ;  since  notwithstanding  that  they  may  in 
terms  declare,  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  alone 
without  works,  it  is  certain,  if  we  may  allow  of  their 
own  exposition,  that  by  faith  they  understand  grace 
which  answereth  to  it ;  and  that  the  plain  meaning 
is,  a  man  is  justified  by  grace  alone,  and  not  by 
the  merit  of  works.  For  this  they  must  mean,  as  he 
proveth,  if  the  authors  of  those  very  confessions  may 
be  depended  on  to  understand  their  own  meaning. 
So  that  in  writing  against  some  odd  doctrines,  he  is 
very  far  from  laying  them  to  the  charge  of  any 
Christian  society:  he  only  speaketh  of  the  private 
opinions  of  some  divines  who  profess  themselves  to 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  103 

follow  those  confessions,  but  who  mistake  and  mis-  I<569- 
apply  them.  He  proveth  moreover,  that  these  very 
divines  who  understand  riot  the  confessions  and 
articles  of  their  own  body,  and  thence  oppose  the 
catholic  doctrine  in  this  point,  do  yet  as  good  as 
confess  it  to  be  the  truth,  by  certain  hypotheses 
which  they  have  set  up,  even  to  shelter  themselves 
from  the  force  of  it. 

XXIV.  The  first  hypothesis  is,  That  the  faith  The  first 
which  justifieth  must  be  a  living  and  not  a  dead  concerning 
faith,  or  a  faith  fruitful  of  good  works ;  whereby  ^2,7 
they  distinguish  it  from  historical  and  from  mira-faith' 
culous  faith.  And  here  he  exposeth  handsomely 
the  weakness  of  such  disputants,  as  make  the  whole 
of  the  controversy  to  depend  hence  on  a  little  me 
taphysical  subtlety,  namely,  whether  faith  that  is 
living,  or  else  faith  as  it  is  living,  be  required  as 
necessary  to  our  justification.  And  he  fully  demon 
strates  the  absurdity  hereof,  and  that  it  is  impossible 
upon  their  supposition,  even  to  make  out  any  sense 
of  St.  James  at  all.  For,  first,  this  apostle  most  ex 
pressly  declaring,  that  a  man  is  justified  e£  epyuv,  by 
works,  the  particle  ef,  by,  or  out  of,  must  manifestly 
denote  somewhat  more  than  an  idle  concomitance- 
Since  if  the  whole  business  of  justification  could  be 
done  and  finished  by  faith  alone,  or  of  itself,  it 
would  be  absurd  to  assert,  that  a  man  could  in  any 
sense  be  justified  by  works.  And  then,  secondly, 
speaking  of  the  faith  of  Abraham,  he  declareth,  how 
faith  wrought  with  his  works,  and  how  by  works 
his  faith  was  made  perfect,  ii.  22.  The  apostle 
hereby  both  clearly  maintaineth  the  cooperation 
of  faith  and  works  in  the  affair  of  justification,  im- 


104  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.    mediately  before   mentioned,  ver.  21.     And   more 


over  that  faith  of  itself  is  imperfect,  and  can  never 
be  brought  through  to  the  end  of  justification,  ex 
cept  as  it  is  made  perfect  by  works.  And,  lastly, 
after  having  distinctly  considered  the  several  objec 
tions  and  evasions  that  have  been  invented  against 
this  plain  literal  sense,  he  thinketh  he  may  safely 
and  without  heresy  make  the  apostle's  conclusion, 
according  to  the  clear  grammatical  meaning  of  the 
words,  his  own  ;  forasmuch  as  whosoever  contendeth 
that  a  man  may  be  justified  by  faith  only,  and  that 
ivorhs  do  nothing  in  this  matter,  is  even  as  ridicu 
lous  and  absurd,  according  to  the  principles  of  the 
apostolical  age,  as  he  that  should  offer  to  affirm, 
that  a  man  liveth  by  the  body  only,  and  that  the 
spirit  or  soul  doth  contribute  nothing  to  man's  life ; 
that  is,  if  the  parallel  of  this  apostle,  ver.  20,  be 
just,  and  his  reasoning  be  allowed  to  be  good. 
Second  A  second  hypothesis  therefore  to  salve  up  this 

concerning  matter,  the  former  being  found  so  insufficient,  is, 
^yoo4SSlty  that  good  works  are  necessary  to  obtain  salvation, 
works  to  This  is  almost  generally  received  by  the  reformed 

salvation.  J  * 

divines,  that  hold  the  other  side  of  the  question ; 
especially  by  the  more  moderate  sort  of  them :  and 
some  of  them  do  mightily  triumph  in  it,  supposing 
that  they  have  hereby  secured  themselves  against 
all  the  evil  consequences  and  contradictions  to  Scrip 
ture,  which  are  charged  upon  the  solifidian  doctrine. 
Which  position  they  explain  after  this  manner,  say 
ing,  that  works  are  indeed  a  condition  necessary  to 
obtain,  according  to  God's  promise,  salvation,  but 
not  that  any  one  should  hereby  obtain  a  right  to 
salvation,  this  right  being  freely  given  to  faith  only 
in  justification.  But  that  this  is  a  mere  evasion  is 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  105 

fully  shewn,  both  by  Scripture  reasonings,  and  by 
the  very  evidence  of  the  proposition  itself;  so  soon 
as  the  same  is  but  explained.  For  he  that  granteth 
good  works  to  be  a  condition,  which  must  necessarily 
be  fulfilled  by  a  Christian  for  the  obtaining  of  life 
eternal,  according  to  God's  promise,  doth  at  the 
same  time  clearly  confess,  that  the  right  to  eternal 
life  is  not  to  be  obtained  without  works.  And 
again,  he  that  denieth  any  right  to  salvation  to  be 
acquired  by  works,  doth  contradict  the  clear  and 
express  testimony  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  saith, 
Blessed  are  they  who  do  his  COMMANDMENTS, 
that  they  may  have  a  RIGHT  to  the  tree  of  life, 
Rev.  xxii.  14.  There  is  no  possibility  of  avoiding 
the  force  of  this  evidence,  as  well  as  that  of  several 
others  in  the  New  Testament,  more  especially  these 
three,  2  Thess.  i.  5, 11.  Heb.  vi.  10.  and  2  Tim.  iv.  8. 
without  entirely  subverting  the  authority  of  the 
sacred  writers ;  or  at  least  making  of  them  (as  some 
have  profanely  jested)  a  nose  of  wax.  Since,  un 
doubtedly,  if  the  reward  of  eternal  life,  called  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  be  given  by  the  Lord  as  the 
righteous  Judge,  for  what  we  shall  have  wrought, 
and  for  having  fought  a  good  fight;  there  must 
then  of  necessity  be  acquired  by  what  we  have 
wrought,  a  right  to  the  reward,  according  to  God's 
gracious  covenant  in  Christ.  And  except  this  right 
be  given  in  justification  to  love  as  well  as  to  faith, 
and  the  works  thereof,  the  word  of  God  is  hence 
plainly  made  void.  Neither  can  we  deny  the  right 
given,  but  by  denying  at  the  same  time  God  to  be 
righteous,  who  hath  freely  given  a  right  to  those 
that  love  him,  and  hath  actually  obliged  himself  to 
remember  in  mercy  those  that  work  out  their  salva- 


106  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  tion,  by  virtue  of  the  said  covenant.  For  if  we 
~  know  any  thing,  this  we  know  for  certain,  that  God 
is  not  unrighteous,  that  he  should  forget  the  work 
and  labour  of  love,  which  any  of  his  saints  have 
shewed  towards  his  name  :  and  if  so,  then  they 
must  have  some  right  by  this  their  work  and  la 
bour,  in  virtue  of  his  promise,  to  be  accepted  and 
justified  by  him.  Wherefore  good  works  wrought 
out  of  a  love  unfeigned,  and  upon  principles  purely 
evangelical,  are  not  only  a  necessary  condition  of 
obtaining  salvation,  which  is  granted  ;  but  also  of 
obtaining  a  right  to  salvation,  that  is,  a  disposition 
to  be  justified  :  which  was  to  be  proved. 
Anobjec-  And  whereas  it  is  objected  by  them  that  are 
against  this  right,  though  it  be  confessed  to  be  the 
free  gift  of  God,  that  the  making  of  good  works  any 
ways  needful  to  justification,  doth  both  detract  from 
the  merits  of  Christ,  and  contradict  the  words  of  St. 
Paul  ;  it  is  prudently  and  solidly  retorted  upon  them, 
that  for  the  very  same  reasons  their  own  hypothesis 
must  fall  also  to  the  ground.  Since  as  to  the  merits 
of  Christ,  our  salvation  no  less  than  our  justification 
is  wholly  to  be  attributed  to  them  ;  we  being  freely 
saved  as  well  as  freely  justified  for  his  sake.  And 
as  to  St.  Paul,  it  is  manifest  that  the  works  which 
he  disputeth  in  his  Epistles,  are  by  him  excluded 
from  salvation  as  well  as  justification.  Consider 
particularly,  Tit.  iii.  5.  and  Ephes.  ii.  8,  9.  which 
will  set  this  matter  beyond  doubt.  Thus  endeth  his 
first  dissertation,  and  his  catholic  exposition  of  St. 
James. 


The  propo-     XXV.  In  his  second  dissertation  his  main  scope 

sition  of  St.  . 

James  de-   is  to  demonstrate,  as  the  very  title  expresseth,  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  107 

good  agreement  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  James  in  this     1669. 
matter.     And  how  well    he   hath    performed    this,  monstrated 
there  is  not  required  much  learning  to  judge;  but  with  the 
a  faithful  comparison  of  Scripture,  with  a  moderate set"pa°fL 
stock  of  common  sense.     The  proposition   of  one 
apostle  is,  That  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  not  by 
faith  only.     The  proposition  of  the  other  apostle  is, 
That  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  without  the  works 
(VO/JLOV)  of  the  law.     Both  these  propositions  are  most 
true  in  themselves,  and   do  perfectly  well  accord. 
And  there  could  have  been  no  difficulty  concerning 
them,  had  either  the  state  of  the  controversy  in  the 
apostles'   days  been    attended    to   as   it    ought,    or 
persons  had  not  come  with  their  modern  opinions 
and  prejudices  to  read  the  apostolical  epistles;  not 
so  much  very  often  to  learn  what  is  the  truth,  as 
to  establish  themselves  thereby,  in   what  they  are 
already,  by  the  tradition  of  a  sect,  prepossessed  with 
to  be  truth. 

To  pass  by  now  the  several  wrong  and  unwar-  He  shews 
rantable  methods,  which  have  by  learned  men  been/«/.e  and 
taken,  in  order  to  reconcile  the  seeming  opposition  soi'vingThe 
of  these  two  apostles,  in  a  point  so  very  material  as  dlfficulty- 
this ;  which  are  particularly  considered  in  the  three 
first  chapters  of  this  discourse,  and  there  deservedly 
exploded ;  our  author  cometh  to  the  true  solution  of 
the  knot  in  the  following  chapters.     And  having  in 
the  first  place  established  this  one  point  for  his  foun 
dation,   That   St.  Paul   is   to   be   interpreted  by  St. 
James,  and  not  St.  James  by  St.  Paul,  in  consent 
with  many  of  the  ancients,  (and  particularly  of  St. 
Augustine  himself,)  who  are  of  the  opinion  that  the 
General  Epistle  of  St.  James,  the  First  of  St.  John, 
and  the  Second  of  St.  Peter,  with  that  of  St.  Jude, 


108  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  were  written  against  those,  who  by  misinterpreting 
St.  Paul's  Epistles,  had  imbibed  a  fond  notion,  as  if 
faith  without  works  \vere  sufficient  to  save  them  ; 
he  sheweth  whence  this  obscurity  and  ambiguity  in 
the  terms  of  St.  Paul  might  probably  arise,  which 
was  the  occasion  that  persons  not  well  grounded 
came  to  mistake  or  pervert  the  same. 
HOW  the  Now  this  can  be  no  otherwise  he  thinks,  than  by 

term  jmtifi-  t  .     ' 

cation,  as    not  understanding  what  this  apostle  meaneth  DJJUS- 
Paui,  Is  to  tification,  or  by  faith,  or  by  works.     Having  then 


stated  the  true  notion  of  the  term  justification,  as  a 
judicial  act  of  God  absolving  man  ;  and  pronouncing 
him  just  and  blessed,  according  to  what  was  before 
by  him  laid  down  and  proved  ;  he  inquireth  next 
into  what  St.  Paul  meaneth  by  faith,  when  he  mak- 
eth  it  the  necessary  qualification  of  our  being  judi 
cially  absolved,  or  justified  in  God's  court.  And 
then,  lastly,  he  examineth  what  those  works  are 
which  are  totally  excluded  by  the  apostle  from  any 
share  in  our  salvation,  or  in  God's  acceptance. 
temattA  As  to  fatih>  b7  making  St.  Paul  here  his  own  in- 


in  this  con-  terpreter,  he  plainly  sheweth,  that  in  all  such  places, 

troversy  is  .  J 

to  be  inter-  where  justification  is  by  him  ascribed  to  it,  thereby 
is  to  be  constantly  understood,  the  whole  condition 
of  the  evangelical  covenant;  comprehending  in  it 
all  the  works  of  Christian  piety,  as  grounded  upon 
a  firm  belief  thereof;  and  that  in  opposition  only 
to  the  Jewish  false  teachers,  who  preached  up  jus 
tification  by  the  works  of  the  law,  St.  Paul  deli 
vered  his  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  i.  e.  by 
the  Gospel. 

First  argu-      Which   notion   of  the   Christian  faith,   as    it  is 

ment,  that 

st.  Paul  taught  even  by  this  very  apostle,  he  solidly  explaineth 
and  defendeth,  by  several  parallel  passages,  such  as 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  109 

these,  viz.   First,  For  (to  the  hope  of  justification     1669. 


by  faith  waited  for,  ver.  5.)  in  Jesus  Christ  neither  such  a  faith 

.  .    .  '7/7  ,7  •  •  .    .         as  implies 

circumcision  avaiietli  any  thing,  nor  uncirciimcision,  obedience. 
but  faith  which  worJceth  by  LOVE,  Gal.  v.  6.  Second, 
For  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  availeth 
any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  NEW  CREA 
TURE,  vi.  15.  Third,  Circumcision  is  nothing,  and 
uncircumcision  is  nothing,  but  the  keeping  the  COM 
MANDMENTS  of  God  is  ALL;  1  Cor.  vii.  19.  compared 
with  the  words  of  our  Saviour,  John  xv.  14.  and 
Matt.  xii.  50.  And  this  he  doth  here  farther 
illustrate  and  confirm  by  all  those  passages,  where 
either  the  apostle  expoundeth  faith  by  obedience, 
or  else  speaketh  of  the  obedience  of  faith  :  as 
particularly,  when  he  saith,  they  have  not  all  obeyed 
the  Gospel,  Rom.  x.  16.  there  interpreting  and 
applying  the  words  of  Isaiah,  who  crieth  out,  Lord, 
who  hath  believed  our  report,  or  preaching  f  Isai. 
liii.  1.  which  obeying  the  Gospel  or  obedience  of 
faith,  he  declareth  in  the  same  Epistle  to  be  \6yu) 
KOI  epyy,  by  word  and  deed ;  xv.  18.  Whence  it 
is  plain,  that  by  faith,  we  are  here  and  elsewhere, 
as  often  as  it  is  supposed  to  act  instrumentally  for 
our  justification,  to  understand  that  only  which 
worJceth  by  charity,  and  which  is  the  same  with 
the  new  creature,  and  containeth  in  it  the  keeping 
of  God's  commandments :  and  that  believing  and 
obeying  the  Gospel  do  in  his  writings  signify  the 
very  same  thing,  which  is  called  by  him  the  obedi 
ence  of  faith,  the  obedience  of  Christ,  and  simply 
obedience,  Rom.  i.  5.  xvi.  19,  26.  2  Cor.  vii.  15. 
x.  5,  6.  compared  with  James  i.  22.  Rom.  ii.  13.  as 
also  with  1  Pet.  i.  2,  22.  where  to  purify  the  soul  in 
OBEYING  the  truth,  that  is,  the  Gospel ;  and  the 


110  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  sanctijication  of  the  Spirit  unto  OBEDIENCE,  which 
"~  is  by  casting  down  all  human  imaginations  and  rea 
sonings  against  the  truths  of  God,  and  bringing 
into  captivity  every  thought  to  the  OBEDIENCE  of 
Christ,  must  needs  be  the  same  with  purifying  the 
heart  by  faith,  and  the  being  sanctified  by  faith,  in 
Acts  xv.  9.  and  xxvi.  18.  And  forasmuch  as  it 
seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  to  join,  both  with 
this  same  obedience  to  the  faith,  and  the  sanctifica- 
tion  to  this  obedience,  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  uncontrovertedly  our  justi 
fication,  it  will  necessarily  follow,  that  the  Christian 
obedience,  by  which  the  soul  is  purified  and  sancti 
fied  through  the  Spirit  and  blood  of  Christ,  must 
not  be  understood  to  be  different  from  that  faith 
which  both  purifieth  and  justifieth,  according  to 
the  language  of  the  very  same  apostle,  as  from 
abundance  of  places  doth  appear  :  and  this  is  that 
faith  which  is  properly  called  fides  formata,  being 
faith  formed  and  quickened  by  charity.  Thus  St. 
Paul's  sense  is  from  parallel  passages,  to  which  many 
more  might  be  added,  made  clear  ;  whence  the  true 
notion  of  Christian  faith  and  obedience  will  be 
found  not  hard  to  be  comprehended  :  this  is  his  first 
argument. 
Second  ar-  Another  arument  that  St.  Paul  meaneth  here 


j  .  „  . 

that  St.      no  other  faith,  but  such  as  contameth  in  it  obedi- 
sifch  "faith  ence>  anc^  cannot  be  separated  from  charity,  is  taken 


"  from  that  famous  passage  of  his  in  1  Cor.  xiii.  2. 
where  he  maketh  nothing  at  all  of  faith  alone,  or 
faith  by  itself,  yea  of  the  very  highest  faith,  unless 
it  be  animated  and  informed  by  Christian  love  and 
obedience.  For  as  to  the  vulgar  objection,  that  the 
apostle  is  here  speaking  only  of  miraculous  faith,  or 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  Ill 

of  some  such  faith  at  least  as  is  imperfect,  or  super-  1 669. 
ficial  and  counterfeit ;  this  he  thinks  is  most  easily 
refuted  by  a  very  little  attention  to  the  words  of  the 
text  and  their  connexion.  Because,  first,  the  apo 
stle  speaketh  here  expressly  of  all  manner  of  faith, 
as  well  as  of  all  manner  of  knowledge;  and  thus, 
using  the  same  term,  he  elsewhere  speaketh  of  all 
manner  of  affliction,  or  any  affliction,  2  Cor.  i.  4. 
Secondly,  the  miracle-working  faith  is  the  highest 
degree  of  faith ;  there  being  no  other  faith  as  con 
sidered  in  itself^  that  is  greater  and  nobler  than 
this :  if  any  will  therefore  own  this  faith  to  be  no 
thing  in  the  sight  of  God,  though  it  includes  the 
highest  degree  of  assent  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
they  must  consequently  grant,  that  there  is  no  man 
ner  of  faith,  which  nakedly  considered,  can  avail 
aught  to  a  man's  salvation.  Thirdly,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  made,  but  that  the  apostle  is  here  writing 
of  true  and  evangelical  charity;  and  not  of  any  in 
ferior  sort,  which  sometimes  may  be  called  by  that 
name:  but  if  one  part  of  the  comparison  be  true 
and  real,  so  must  the  other  part  be  likewise.  For 
if  charity  that  is  true  be  preferred  only  to  know 
ledge  that  is  unsound,  and  is  falsely  so  called ;  or  to 
prophecy  that  is  pretended;  or  to  the  understand 
ing  of  mysteries  that  is  imaginary ;  or  to  faith  that 
is  untrue  or  dead;  such  a  comparison  would  be  as 
ridiculous,  as  to  compare  the  strength  of  a  child 
with  that  of  a  lion,  and  to  prefer  the  child's  strength 
in  making  nothing  of  the  lion's,  hereby  meaning  a 
living  child,  but  a  dead  lion.  Fourthly,  it  is  by  all 
generally  owned,  that  at  the  end  of  this  chapter  no 
other  but  true  and  perfect  faith  is  to  be  understood : 
but  if  so,  then  also  must  it  necessarily  be  under- 


112  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  stood  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter  after  the  same 
manner,  the  whole  being  one  continued  discourse, 
otherwise  the  apostle  would  be  inconsistent  with 
himself. 

Third  argii-      A  third  argument  for  this  acceptation  of  the  word 
st.  Paul     faith  in  many  places  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  not  ac- 


faith  cording  to  the  simple,  but  the  complex  sense  there- 

ethobedN~ 


C~  of,  is  taken  from  that  remarkable  text,  Rom.  ii.  13. 
ence. 


(interpreted  by  chap.  xiii.  10.  Gal.  v.  14.  and  James 
ii.  8.)  where  he  expressly  declareth  the  observing  of 
God's  commandments  to  be  needful  to  justification  ; 
by  determining,  that  it  is  not  the  hearers  or  be 
lievers  that  are  justified  before  God,  but  that  the 
DOERS  of  the  law  shall  be  JUSTIFIED.  Nothing, 
one  would  think,  can  be  more  plain  than  this,  yet 
neither  is  this  all  ;  the  whole  current  of  the  revela 
tion  of  the  New  Testament  constantly  supposing  no 
less,  as  in  it  is  contained  a  body  of  divine  precepts 
and  rules,  wisely  adapted  to  perfect  human  nature, 
and  to  justify  as  many  as  are  conformed  thereby  to 
the  will  of  God.  This  one  passage  of  St.  Paul  being 
applied  to  the  perfect  law  of  Christ,  is  as  good  as  a 
thousand.  Wherefore,  to  omit  others,  let  it  be  suffi 
cient  to  observe  here  from  our  author,  that  this  is 
paralleled  very  fitly  with  that  of  St.  James,  Be 
DOERS  of  the  word,  and  not  hearers  only  ;  and 
with  the  express  sayings  of  Christ  himself  in  Matt. 
vii.  21,  24.  John  xiv.  21.  and  xiii.  17.  Now  it  is 
plain  that  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  under  the 
new  evangelical  dispensation  ;  and  that  the  law  is 
fulfilled  hence  in  one  word.  And  this  he  farther 
corroborates  from  another  passage  in  the  same  Epi 
stle,  expounding  SiKaioa-vvtj  by  Sucaiaxris,  that  the  anti 
thesis  may  more  clearly  appear,  and  so  making  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  US 

sense  to  run  thus:  Know  ye  not,  that  to  whom  ye     1669. 
yield  yourselves   servants   to   obey,   his  servants  ye 
are,  whether  of  sin  unto  death,  or  of  obedience  unto 
justification,  that  is  life  eternal,  chap.  vi.  16. 

Thus  in  St.  Paul's  justification  by  faith,  and  not  The  ground 
by  legal  works,  explained  according  to  the  analogy  ner  of™ 
of  his  own  writings,  and  of  the  other   Scriptures  of speaking" 
the  New  Testament.     Which  done,  he  proceedeth 
to  inquire  into  the  ground  of  this  manner  of  speak 
ing.     And  this,  without   doubt,   must    be    because 
faith  is  the   beginning  and  root  of  all  evangelical 
righteousness,  and  the  first  principle  of  all  true  reli 
gion,  Heb.  xi.  6,  without  which,  no  saving  virtue  is 
or  can  be  in  man ;  and  which,  not  being  obstructed, 
will  kindly  draw  after  it  all  the  rest  of  the  virtues 
as  they  are  in  Christ.     For  if  we  believe  in  him,  we 
are  thereby  led  cheerfully  to  obey  him,  and  to  sub 
mit  to  his  discipline,  and  to  his  wise  and  holy  insti 
tutions. 

XXVI.  But  besides  this,  there  are  two  reasons  The  first 
why  St.  Paul,  in  describing  the  condition  required  st^auT  5 
on  our  part  for  salvation,  maketh  use  of  faith.     And  ^iSte 
these  are,  1.  That  he  might  express  to  us  the  easi- the  condi.- 

tion  requir- 

ness  of  the  condition.  2.  That  he  might  thence  ex- ed  from  us. 
elude  all  human  merit.  As  to  the  easiness  of  the 
condition  on  man's  part,  for  obtaining  justification, 
it  was  impossible  to  express  it  more  emphatically, 
than  by  faith.  For  what  can  be  more  easy,  than  to 
believe;  especially  when  there  is  all  the  reason  in 
the  world  for  our  belief;  and  where,  not  to  believe, 
is  the  greatest  folly  and  insensibility  imaginable? 
Or  what,  again,  can  contribute  more  to  depress  the 
merit  of  all  flesh,  and  to  exclude  all  boasting,  than 

i 


114  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  to  ascribe  nothing  to  what  we  do,  even  in  that 
~~  which  we  do,  but  to  give  the  sole  honour  of  all  to 
the  grace  of  God  in  Christ ;  into  which  we  cannot 
be  initiated  but  by  faith  ?  So  that  as  the  new  cove 
nant  is  more  easy  than  the  old ;  if  in  the  old  there 
might  be  some  pretence  of  meriting,  there  can  be 
none  at  all  in  the  new.  Whence,  both  to  express 
how  much  greater  facility  there  is  of  evangelical 
than  of  /^/justification ;  and  to  make  void  all  the 
pretensions  of  man,  by  virtue  of  his  own  perform 
ances  ;  there  is  here  given  such  an  interpretation  of 
those  words  of  Moses  and  St.  Paul,  Levit.  xviii.  5. 
Deut.  xxx.  11,  12,  14.  Rom.  x.  5,  10.  which  describe 
the  righteousness  both  of  the  Law  and  of  the  Gospel, 
and  compare  them  together,  as  to  shew  the  real  and 
distinct  ground  of  each,  and  to  manifest  wherein  the 
prerogative  of  one  revelation  above  the  other,  doth 
properly  consist.  The  sum  of  which  is  this  :  "  The 
"  righteousness,"  he  saith,  "  which  is  of  the  law, 
"  prescribeth  very  many  and  grievous  command- 
"  ments,  but  containeth  no  sufficient  promises  to 
"  encourage  a  man  to  the  obedience  of  them ;  but 
"  that  which  is  of  faith,  prescribeth  only  a  few  and 
"  easy  commandments,  such  as  in  themselves  are 
"  highly  recommendable,  and  suited  to  the  perfec- 
"  tion  of  our  natures ;  and  exciteth  us  also  to  the 
"  performance  thereof  by  the  greatest  and  most  cer- 
"  tain  promises,  and  by  the  assurance  of  all  those 
"  helps  at  hand,  that  we  can  even  wish  for  or  desire." 
And  the  foundation  of  all  this  he  makes  to  be  a 
steadfast  belief,  that  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  ascend 
into  heaven ;  and  that  even  notwithstanding  that  he 
may  have  descended  into  the  deep,  he  must  yet  re 
turn  again.  All  which  is  demonstrated  to  us  by  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  115 

history  of  our  Saviour's  ascension,  as  is  here  shewn  :  1669. 
and  no  less  likewise  by  that  of  his  death  and  resur-~ 
rection,  being  so  convincingly  attested.  So  that 
whoever  shall  doubt  of  this  matter,  he  may  even  as 
well  think  to  bring  Christ  himself  down  from  hea 
ven,  who  is  thither  ascended  ;  or  else  to  deny  that 
Christ  was  ever  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  and  raised 
again  from  the  dead  by  the  Spirit.  Wherefore  the 
resurrection  and  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ  into  hea 
ven,  being  once  firmly  believed,  the  whole  substance 
of  Christian  religion  is  made  thereby  most  easy  :  so 
that  we  may  truly  then  say,  his  commandments  arc 
not  grievous  ;  for  to  him  that  believeth  are  all  things 
made  easy.  And  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh 
the  world,  according  as  the  Holy  Ghost  witnesseth, 
even  our  faith.  Which  victory  is  therefore  ascribed 
to  faith,  because  it  is  faith  that  both  encourageth  us 
to  the  battle,  and  assisteth  us  in  it  with  the  whole 
divine  armour;  and  maketh  the  grace  of  God,  the 
merit  of  Christ,  and  the  aid  of  his  Spirit,  to  be 
herein  all  in  all. 

And    this  faith    expressing  evangelical  obedience,  The  second 


doth  moreover  exclude  all  merit  :  because,  1.  It  sup-  faithTs'  used 


poseth  the  revelation,  and  calling  on  God's  part,  first  ^ 
granted  to  man  out  of  mere  grace,  before  his  per-  obedience- 
forming  any  obedience  to  God  ;  and  that  therefore 
he  doth  perform  that  obedience,  which  is  expressed 
by  the  word  of  faith,  not  by  his  own  might  and 
strength,  but  through  God  preventing  him  with  his 
love  and  mercy,  and  graciously  revealing  his  mind 
to  him.  2.  Because  it  not  only  supposeth  a  divine 
revelation,  but  also  such  promises  as  may  excite  a 
person  to  set  about  these  works,  which  he  would 
never  otherwise  have  attempted,  had  he  been  never- 

I  2 


116  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.  somuch  before  persuaded  of  his  duty  so  to  do.  The 
~~  texts  brought  by  him  for  confirmation  and  illustra 
tion  hereof,  are  these,  viz.  2  Pet.  i.  4.  and  1  Pet.  i. 
23.  compared  with  James  i.  18.  Also  St.  Peter's 
doxology,  1  Pet.  i.  3.  and  Abraham's  blessing,  Gal. 
iii.  14.  which  are  very  express  in  this  case,  and  may 
receive  farther  light  from  Heb.  xii.  2.  3.  Because 
so  far  as  it  regardeth  the  promise,  it  expecteth  no 
reward  but  only  from  the  free  undeserved  grace  of 
God  promising  it.  And  this  he  taketh  to  be  the 
chief  reason  why  the  Holy  Ghost  is  wont  to  express 
the  Gospel-obedience  by  faith,  to  shew  that  this 
obedience  which  we  yield  through  faith,  doth  not 
obtain  salvation  sua  vi  aid  merito,  "by  its  own 
"  efficacy  or  merit,"  but  vi  pacti,  "  by  virtue  of  the 
"  covenant,"  or  free  promise ;  which  by  faith  is  ap 
prehended.  Texts  for  confirming  and  illustrating 
this,  by  him  made  use  of,  are  these,  viz.  Gal.  iii.  18. 
Rom.  iv.  13,  16.  This  for  faith. 

HOW  the         XXVII.  As  to  works,  and  the  ambiguity  in  the 

term  works  t*      i  • 

is  to  be  in-  use  of  this  term,  as  sometimes  opposed  to  faith,  he 
£•  c<mt«£  nex*  proceedetk  to  shew,  from  the  whole  intent  and 
scope  of  St.  Paul,  in  his  disputation  with  the  Jews 
and  Judaizing  Christians,  both  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  and  in  that  to  the  Galatians,  that  he  and 
St.  James  are  perfectly  of  a  mind ;  that  the  works 
excluded  by  one,  are  also  no  less  excluded  by  the 
other,  and  on  the  contrary ;  and  that  to  understand 
what  is  meant  by  works,  in  the  writings  of  the 
apostles,  we  must  have  a  regard  to  the  controversies 
which  were  then  on  foot.  In  proving  this,  he  is 
very  large  and  clear:  and  particularly,  occasion  is 
taken  by  him,  from  the  divine  sermon  of  our  Lord 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  117 

upon  the  mount,  to  state  this  matter  with  all  ex-     1669. 


actness,  and  to  demonstrate  the  conformity  of  the 
design,  both  of  the  Master,  and  of  his  disciples  ;  as 
proceeding  upon  the  very  same  principles,  eyeing  the 
very  same  objections  and  prejudices,  and  carrying 
on  together  the  very  same  cause,  even  that  of  evan 
gelical  righteousness,  notwithstanding  some  differ 
ence  of  style  and  method.  Hereby  is  given  us  a 
noble  prospect  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  and  a  most 
delightful  view  withal  of  those  bright  and  gracious 
works,  which  follow  the  blessed  that  die  in  Christ 
for  their  justification,  is  there  faithfully  represented 
to  the  reader. 

But  here,  above  all,  it  is  necessary  that  the  works  Works 
which  are  thus  graciously  received  of  God  for  Christ' 


sake,  forasmuch  as  they  are  wrought  by  the  opera-  lan 
tion  of  his  own  Spirit,  be  rightly  distinguished  from^°™raU 
all  other  works,  let  their  appearance  be  never  so  works- 
great  and  good  ;  which,  however  they  may  justify 
us  before  men,  can  have  no  share  in  justifying  us 
before  God.  And  this  is  done  so  well  in  this  dis 
course,  and  in  the  two  vindications  of  it,  as  it  will 
be  hard  for  any  to  mistake  the  one  for  the  other, 
that  will  mind  but  a  little  what  is  herein  so  very 
clearly  delivered.  For  as  there  is  a  living  and  a 
dead  faith,  so  likewise  there  are  living  and  dead 
works  ;  which  must  by  no  means  be  confounded. 
As  to  faith,  it  is  certainly  dead  without  works  ;  and 
no  less  certainly  are  works  dead  without  faith  :  the 
separation  of  one  from  the  other,  is  almost  like  the 
separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body. 

Whence  there  can  be  no  doubt,  upon  the  reason-  Faith  and 
ings  of  this  treatise,  but  that  faith  and  works,  or  Sute  the" 
the  works   of  faith,  or  faith  working  by   love, 


118  THE  LIFE  OF 

1669.    faith    and   repentance,   are    properly    the    terms    of 
"the    evangelical    covenant;   according    to   which,    a 
man  is  accepted  and  justified  of  God.     As  to  faith, 
there  can   be  here    no  controversy,  that   being  al 
lowed  by  all. 

AH  sort  of  As  to  works,  if  St.  Paul  again  may  be  allowed  to 
excluded  be  his  own  interpreter,  there  will  be  no  great,  if  any, 
difficulty  in  the  matter,  as  our  author  fully  proveth. 
For  the  true  state  of  the  case,  according  to  him,  is 
this :  The  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  did,  from  its  very 
first  preaching,  labour  under  this  great  prejudice 
from  the  Jews,  that  it  did  contradict  the  religion 
and  the  law  given  them  of  God,  by  the  hands  of 
Moses,  the  mediator  thereof,  and  confirmed  to  them 
by  many  and  great  miracles.  Against  this  calumny, 
our  Lord  expressly  defended  himself  in  that  most 
divine  sermon  of  his  upon  the  mount,  shewing  how 
he  came  not  to  dissolve  or  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil 
and  perfect  the  law :  both  by  explaining  those  things 
in  it  more  clearly,  which  had  never  before  been 
explained,  and  by  strengthening  it  with  some  more 
exact  rules  ;  and  then  also  by  inclining  our  minds  to 
the  obedience  thereof,  by  the  greatness  and  certainty 
of  the  promises,  and  even  by  the  sealing,  moreover, 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  is  for  the  moral.  And  as 
for  the  ritual  part  of  the  law,  that  was  by  Christ  so 
consummated,  as  to  cease  when  the  substance  there 
of  appeared  in  him.  This,  nevertheless,  the  Jews 
were  riot  willing  to  understand,  as  not  discerning 
the  end  and  purpose  of  God  in  giving  the  law,  but 
concluding  that  it  was  to  be  everlasting;  and  that 
even  as  to  all  the  ceremonials  too  therein  contained. 
And  he  sheweth  us  how  this  prejudice  continued, 
even  with  them  that  were  converted  to  the  faith  of 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  119 

Christ :  so  that  there  was  need  of  an  apostolical 
council  to  oppose  it,  and  to  determine  for  the  Christ 
ian  liberty  against  the  Mosaical  servitude.  And 
that  which  both  Christ  and  the  whole  college  of  his 
apostles  did,  is  but  prosecuted  more  at  large  by  St. 
Paul,  as  he  proveth  against  the  aforesaid  Jewish 
prejudice,  when  he  writeth  of  the  Law  and  the 
Gospel,  or  the  works  of  the  law,  and  the  obedience 
of  faith,  and  compareth  them  together.  For  which, 
and  for  other  reasons,  he  collecteth,  that  St.  Paul 
cannot  mean  all  sorts  of  works,  when  he  excludeth 
them  from  justifying;  but  only  some  sort  of  them, 
as  works  of  the  Mosaical  law. 

Now  the  works  rejected  from  justification  by  the  What  sort 

1       o       T-»       i      •       i  •          •     i«         •  i  * i  •    i    °^  works 

apostle  St.  Paul,  in  his  vindicating  the  most  high  rejected 


preeminence  and  prerogatives  of  the  Gospel,  are,  ficti 
according  to  our  author,  1.  The  ritual  ones,  which 
the  ceremonial  law  appointed,  and  which  Christ  ful 
filled.  2.  The  moral  ones,  before  and  without  the 
grace  of  the  Gospel,  whether  in  the  state  of  the  law, 
or  of  nature.  3.  All  works  of  Judaical  righteous 
ness,  both  legal  and  traditional,  as  they  are  delivered 
by  the  Jewish  doctors,  and  by  the  strictest  Pharisees 
insisted  on.  4.  All  manner  of  works  whatsoever  not 
founded  upon  Christ  as  the  only  Mediator ;  and 
which  without  respect  to  the  covenant  of  grace  esta 
blished  in  his  blood,  put  in  any  but  the  least  pre 
tence  to  the  attainment  of  salvation.  And  none  of 
any  of  these  are  set  up  by  his  brother  apostle,  as  is 
evident  from  his  whole  Epistle.  And,  on  the  con 
trary,  St.  Paul  is  so  far  from  denying,  that  moral 
works,  proceeding  from  the  grace  of  the  Gospel,  do 
by  virtue  of  the  Gospel-covenant  effectually  contri 
bute  to  a  man's  eternal  justification  and  salvation, 


120  THE  LIFE  OF 

669.  that  he  is  almost  wholly  taken  up  in  demonstrating 
~it  ;  which  is  shewn  at  large  in  seven  chapters  of  this 
discourse.  And  this  is  the  very  thing  that  is  con 
tended  for  by  St.  James.  And  the  foundation  of 
them  both  is  our  Saviour's  sermon  aforesaid,  which 
both  s  beginneth  and  *  endeth  herewith  ;  and  is 
throughout  a  plain  demonstration,  that  there  can  be 
no  true  justification  under  the  Gospel,  or  attainment 
of  blessedness,  but  by  obedience  as  well  as  faith,  and 
by  the  following  of  Christ  ;  and  that  consequently, 
not  only  works  of  righteousness  are  required  in 
order  to  it,  but  even  such  as  surpass  the  righteous 
ness  of  the  very  strictest  of  those  that  are  under  the 
law.  This  is  the  substance  of  the  second  disserta 
tion  :  in  which  there  are  also  several  curious  and 
learned  discourses  for  illustration  of  the  subject, 
concerning  the  preeminence  of  the  evangelical  dis 
pensation  above  the  legal,  of  the  perfection  of  the 
Christian  rule,  of  the  mistakes  about  it,  of  the  Jew 
ish  notions  of  justification,  and  of  several  other  mat 
ters  interspersed,  which  will  deserve  the  attention 
of  a  careful  reader. 


XXVIII.  About  a  year  after  this  book  was  printed 
the  Har.    and  published,  there  was  sent  a  copy  of  it,  with  mar- 
senTtothe  ginal  annotations  and  animadversions  to  the  author, 
author.       after  it  had  passed  through  several  other  hands  be 
fore.     They  were  written  by  a  certain  divine,  who 
was  altogether  unknown  to  him.     As  he  received 
them  from  his  diocesan  and  patron,  he  set  himself 
earnestly  to  consider  them,  and  to  review  what  he 
had  printed. 

s  Matt.  v.  3.  &c.  l  Chap.  vii.  24.  &c. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  121 

In   the  year  1671,  or  thereabouts,  the  Animnd-    1671. 


versions    upon    his    ffarmonia,  &c.,   which    he    had 
some  time  before  received  by  the  hands  of 


Nicholson,  were    discovered   to   him   to   have  been  Mr-  Charles 

Gataker. 

written  by  Mr.  Charles  Gataker,  the  son  of  that 
learned  critic,  Mr.  Thomas  Gataker  of  London, 
author  of  the  Dissertatio  de  Stylo  Novi  Testamenti, 
&c.,  who  was  a  member  of  that  unlawful  assembly 
of  divines  that  met  at  Westminster,  1643,  and  was 
preparing  to  publish,  after  another  scheme,  an 
Harmony  also  of  the  Two  Apostles,  James  and  Paul, 
a  little  before  he  died  ;  with  whose  papers  the  son 
being  assisted,  thought  himself  more  than  able  to 
deal  with  our  author,  and  even  to  overthrow  his 
whole  foundation. 

How  well   Mr.  Gataker  hath  succeeded  therein,  The  sum  of 
let  any  one  judge,  after  reading  over  all  the  ani  mad-  aversions. 
versions  which  he  hath  made,  and  comparing  them 
with  the  book  animadverted  upon.     After  which,  if 
he  be  not  satisfied  enough  on  which  side  the  truth 
lieth,  he  may  go  on  to  read  the  reply  to  them  ;  but 
if  he  be,  he  may  save  himself  that  labour.     Now,  the 
sum  of  what  is  contained   in  these  animadversions 
may  amount  to  thus  much  ;  It  is  not  fit,  he  thinks,  Animad.  i. 
to  explain  St.  Paul  by  St.  James,  as  supposing  this 
would  be  to  make  a  single  passage  in  the  one,  the 
standard  whereby  to  interpret  a  great  many  in  the 
other.     Nor  is  he  willing  to  allow  of  any  obscurity 
at  all  in  St.  Paul's  expressions  ;  but  contendeth  for 
the  plainness  and  fulness  of  his  arguments  in  this 
case,  against  the  doctrine  explained  and   defended 
according    to   St.  James,   in   our   author's  Harmony 
of  the  Apostles.     He  is  not  at  all  pleased  with  the  Amman,  z. 
term  of  fides  formata  or  animated  faith  ;  because  it 


122  THE  LIFE  OF 

1671.  seemeth  to  make  charity  the  soul  of  faith,  or  its 
constitutive  form  ;  and  because  the  said  term  is 
taken  up  by  the  schoolmen,  whom  he  inveigheth 
against  as  the  great  corrupters  of  the  Gospel  in  this 
Animad.  point.  He  chargeth  the  harmonist  with  confound 
ing  the  "terms  of  Scripture,  and  with  not  reaching 
the  sense  of  a  common  x  Greek  particle.  He  will 
not  hear  of  the  imputation  of  reward  as  a  part  of 
justification  ;  nor  is  he  content  to  have  faith  so  far 
degraded  as  to  be  accounted  only  a  condition  of  the 
Gospel-covenant,  for  he  will  have  it  to  be  a  great 
deal  more,  even  a  real  and  efficacious  cause  of  the 
righteousness  obtained  by  Christ,  or  a  causal  energy 

5.  in  justifying  a  sinner.     He   distinguisheth   betwixt 
the  being  accepted  by  God,  and  being  justified  by 
him  ;  and  granteth  Cornelius  to  have  been  indeed 
accepted,   but   denieth   him   to   have   been  justified, 

6.  because  of  his  good  works.     He  alloweth  not,  that 
justification  is  properly  meant  by  the  sprinkling  of 
Christ's  blood,  but  will  have  sanctification  referred 

Animad.  7.  to  by  it,  in  1  Pet.  i.  2.  and  other  places.  He  denieth 
justification  to  be  the  same  with  remission  of  sins  ; 
and  is  positive  that  justification  is  nowhere  in 
Scripture  attributed  to  repentance.  Nevertheless  he 
denieth  not  that  repentance  and  faith  are  the  two 
conditions  of  the  Gospel  which  Christ  had  joined 
together,  and  which  none  ought  to  put  asunder. 

Animad.  g.  He  disputeth  not  the  obligation  to  repentance  laid 
upon  us  ;  but  maintaineth,  however,  that  a  man  may 
be  justified  by  faith,  who  shall  want  the  opportunity 
of  bringing  forth  the  fruits  of  repentance,  being  pre- 
.  9.  vented  by  death.  He  defendeth  the  instrumentality 


bv  \oyi£f(rd(ii  and  AiKiiiocrvvr)v. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  123 

of  faith,   understanding   by  it,    a   certain    influence    1671. 
appointed   by  God  for    the    obtaining   of  righteous- 


ness.  He  contendeth  for  the  English  protestant  Ani 
divines,  that  they  have  not  suffered  themselves  to 
be  transported  too  far  in  their  disputes  with  the 
papists  about  this  article.  By  the  distinction  of  a  Animad. 
twofold  righteousness,  the  one  of  Christ  imputed  to 
the  faithful,  and  \)j  faith  obtained;  the  other  of  the 
faithful,  by  himself  performed,  and  by  works  exer 
cised  and  shewn  forth  ;  he  laboureth  to  surmount 
the  difficulty  of  Christ's  sermon  on  the  mount,  as  an 
authentic  exposition  and  declaration  of  the  moral 
law,  and  his  establishment  thereof  for  his  own  law, 
by  tempering  it  with  evangelical  grace.  Moreover,  Animad. 
he  distinguished!  a  twofold  law  of  Christ,  the  one 
the  moral  law  of  God,  the  other  the  law  of  faith  : 
and  maintaineth,  that  a  true  and  living  faith  is  the 
only  condition  of  justification  according  to  the  evan 
gelical  law  of  Christ,  as  contradistinct  to  the  moral. 
He  defineth  saving  faith  to  be  a  lively  inclination  Animad. 
of  the  will,  that  is  directed  by  the  understanding 
now  irradiated  by  the  light  of  the  Gospel,  and  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  trust  in  God  through  Christ 
the  Mediator  for  eternal  salvation.  He  contendeth,  Animad. 
that  Christ's  description  of  the  day  of  judgment, 
in  Matt.  xxv.  is  parabolical;  and  that  no  decisive 
argument  can  thence  be  brought  for  the  manner 
of  his  proceeding  in  that  day.  Yea,  he  insisteth, 
that  if  we  are  to  be  justified  in  this  life  after  the 
same  manner  we  shall  be  judged  according  to  this 
parable,  we  must  consequently  be  justified  by  works 
alone,  without  faith.  His  way  of  reconciling  St.  Paul 


with   St.  James,  is  by  the  distinction  of  a  twofold 
justification,    as    respecting    a    twofold    accusation, 


124  THE  LIFE  OF 

1671.  according  to  the  different  conditions  of  the  cove- 
~~nant  of  works,  and  the  covenant  of  grace.  For  he 
maintaineth,  that  we  are  accused  before  God,  either 
as  sinners  or  as  unbelievers ;  and  that  we  are  justi 
fied  against  the  first  accusation  by  faith  alone,  laying 
hold  on  the  grace  and  righteousness  of  Christ :  and 
against  the  second,  by  works,  and  not  by  faith  only, 
as  these  are  the  signs  and  evidences  of  our  being 

nimad.  true  believers.  He  objecteth  against  the  complex 
notion  of  faith,  as  inclusive  of  hope  and  charity 
with  good  works ;  that  it  is  plainly  contrary  to 
St.  Paul's  foundation,  who  acknowledgeth  no  other 
but  faith  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  without  works :  and 
therefore,  without  a  contradiction  to  himself,  cannot 

nimad.  be  understood  to  speak  of  a  faith  with  works.  He 
disputeth  about  the  perfection  of  the  law  of  Moses, 
and  saith,  that  the  law  which  is  to  be  the  rule  of 
the  last  judgment,  can  be  110  other  than  a  rule  of 

nimad.  perfect  obedience.  He  derideth  the  distinction  of 
justification  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  before  the 

nimad.  world.  The  only  reason  for  which  he  will  allow 
St.  Paul  to  deny  that  a  sinner  may  be  justified  by 
the  law  of  Moses,  is  the  most  perfect  and  absolute 
righteousness  which  he  asserteth  to  be  required  by 
it,  as  a  condition  of  justification ;  which  condition  no 

nimad.  man  can  perform.  He  is  very  positive,  that  St.  Paul 
had  no  intent  to  make  mention  of  the  defect  of  the 
law,  and  that  he  could  draw  no  argument  from  the 
weakness  of  it  against  justification,  though  he  might 
against  sanctification,  by  it.  He  saith,  that  the 
grace  of  God,  for  the  observance  of  the  law,  was  not 
denied  by  the  very  Pharisees  themselves ;  and  that 
none,  either  Jews  or  Gentiles,  did  ever  think  they 
could  be  justified  by  works  without  God's  grace; 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  125 

even  the  heathens  being  so  wise  as  to  acknowledge  1671. 
y  no  man  good  without  a  divine  genius  assisting 
him.  And  he  concludeth  that  St.  Paul  doth  speak 
only  of  Abraham,  David,  and  such  others,  who  were 
justified  by  the  mercy  of  God  through  Christ,  to 
whom  God  imputed  righteousness  without  works. 
He  is  exceedingly  displeased  with  those  who  make  Animad. 
the  promises  and  threatenings  of  the  law  to  be  only 
temporal ;  and  chargeth  this  opinion  with  down 
right  blasphemy,  and  with  contradicting  the  express 
words  of  Christ,  Luke  xvi.  29-  and  John  v.  39.  In  Animad. 
a  word,  he  is  very  earnest  for  the  perfection  of  the 
law  given  by  Moses,  in  opposition  to  the  several 
infirmities  objected  against  it ;  and  argueth  for  its 
fitness  to  produce  true  and  genuine  piety,  from  the 
book  of  Deuteronomy,  and  from  the  Psalms.  And  Animad. 

2  3. 

in  the  close  of  all,  he  severely  animadverteth  upon 
an  appeal  of  our  author  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  her  Xlth  Article,  charging 
him  with  interpolating  her  doctrine,  and  the  holy 
Scripture  also ;  whereby  he  means,  corrupting  and 
depraving  it  by  his  additions.  This  is  a  most  heavy 
charge  against  him  ;  and  his  proofs  ought  to  be  very 
plain.  The  best  cause  in  the  world  may  be  run 
down  with  clamour  and  confidence:  but  truth  is 
never  better  supported,  than  by  being  modestly 
and  simply  proposed,  with  the  arguments  for  and 
against  it  fairly  represented,  without  reflection  upon 
any  for  not  thinking  after  the  same  manner  with 
us.  But  this  is  not  the  method  of  the  animad- 
verter. 

It  were  truly  much  to  have  been  wished,  that  soThecharac- 
masterly  a  writer  as  Mr.  Bull,  had  met  with,  upon  anr;mad.e 

„  v      v    s.   '  » &  «     >     a '  verier. 

Y  \u>pis  oaLpoifos  ovotis  ayavos. 


126  THE  LIFE  OF 

his  first  setting  out  into  the  world,  a  more  consider 
able  adversary  to  manage,  that  so  the  cause  might 
have  been  carried  on  with  greater  advantages,  for 
advancing  the  truth  simply,  without  respect  to  per 
sons  or  parties ;  and  that  a  great  genius  might  not 
have  been  forced  to  condescend  to  such  little  mat 
ters,  as  he  could  expect  to  receive  no  honour  from, 
if  he  conquered.  Mr.  Gataker  appeareth  to  have 
been  a  person  of  great  violence  in  his  temper,  but 
one  well-intentioned,  and  a  very  zealous  protestant ; 
and  had  he  had  but  more  coolness  of  thought,  and 
had  he  withal  read  more  of  the  ancients,  and  fewer 
of  the  moderns,  he  would,  I  believe,  have  made 
no  inconsiderable  writer.  But  he  not  allowing  him 
self  time  to  think  sedately,  or  even  to  examine 
sufficiently  the  sense  of  an  author  who  pleased  him 
not ;  being  fired  with  a  zeal  for  what  he  took  for 
truth,  from  the  systems  which  he  had  greedily 
sucked  in,  as  authentic  explications  of  the  Gospel, 
entirely  lost  himself  hereby,  and  exposed  the  very 
cause  he  undertook  to  defend.  However,  in  this 
he  is  to  be  commended,  that  he  was  content  to 
have  his  thoughts  communicated  to  his  superiors 
in  the  church,  and  to  the  author  of  the  book  which 
he  attacked,  without  making  them  more  public  by 
the  press.  And  bishop  Nicholson  was  also  certainly 
in  the  right,  not  to  press  Mr.  Bull  to  publish  the 
answer  which  he  had  prepared,  notwithstanding 
all  the  foul  language  and  provocation  that  was 
him. 


Mr.  Bull's       XXIX.  However,  because  nothing  that  was  more 

motives  for 

taking  so    considerable  did   yet   appear    objected   against   this 
tire  of  Mr.  wor^  ;  and  because  he  thought  there  did  lie  on  him 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  127 

an  obligation  both  for  his  own  sake,  and  the  truth's  1671. 
sake,  to  vindicate  himself  and  his  book  from  those  Gataker's 
harsh  and  uncharitable  censures  which  were  cast  avers 


upon  him  and  it  ;  and  to  endeavour  to  put  a  stop 
to  those  loud  clamours  most  unjustly  raised  and 
fomented  by  others  of  the  same  fiery  zeal  against  a 
proceeding  of  the  greatest  fairness  and  ingenuity  :  as 
also  because  the  very  sending  him  that  printed  copy 
of  his  Harmonia,  &c.,  which  came  from  Mr.  Charles 
Gataker,  stuffed  throughout  with  his  remarks  and 
reflections  written  on  the  margins  of  it,  together 
with  other  miscellany  notes  relating  to  this  contro 
versy,  added  both  before  and  after  the  book  by  him, 
was  looked  upon  by  Mr.  Bull,  when  he  first  received 
it,  no  other  than  a  command  of  his  spiritual  supe 
rior,  who  sent  it  him,  to  undertake  the  answering  of 
whatever  therein  might  deserve  any  consideration  ; 
notwithstanding  that  this  was  not  pressed  upon  him 
at  all,  forasmuch  as  the  bishop  would  often  tell  him, 
that  there  was  no  great  matter  in  these  Animadver 
sions,  and  that  he  himself  made  little  or  no  account 
of  them  :  he  was  yet  resolved  to  steal  some  time 
from  his  other  business,  that  he  might  shew  the 
emptiness  and  the  inconsistency  of  the  arguments 
brought  against  him  by  this  confident  writer  ;  which 
he  hath  done  very  largely  and  fully,  and  inter 
spersed  a  great  deal  of  curious  and  solid  learning, 
wherever  any  occasion  doth  present  itself:  and  hath 
frequently  taken  the  hint  from  very  trifling  objec 
tions,  to  strengthen  his  former  works,  by  several 
most  material  considerations  and  convincing  argu 

ments. 

1675. 

He  very  nervously  defendeth  the  proposition   of  AH  abstract 
St.  James,  and  his  explication  of  it;  and 


128  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.    bv  many  arguments,  that  it  is  far  more  convenient 
in  an-  and  reasonable,  that  St.  Paul  should  be  interpreted 
them.10       by  us,  according  to  him,  than  on  the  contrary.     He 
son'dly  vindicatetli  the  phrase  of  fides  formata,  used 


sitra- 
swer  to 


Answer  to  by    him,    against    his    adversary's    objections  ;    and 

*'  handles  the  question  with  great  accuracy  of  judg 

ment,    Whether   charity  may  rightly  be  called  the 

form  of  justifying  faith  ?  which  is  decided  by  him 

Answer  to  affirmatively.     He  is  full  and  clear  in  determining 

Animad.  3.  TFT-T      11  r        •  • 

the  question,  Whether  the  conferring  a  right  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  be  properly  an  act  of  evangeli 
cal  justification?  And  here  he  shews,  against  the 
cavils  of  the  animadverter,  how  the  notion  of  justifi 
cation,  according  to  the  Gospel,  doth  include  in  it 
necessarily  the  acceptance  of  a  man  before  God  to 
eternal  life  and  salvation,  or  the  imputation  of  re- 
Answer  to  ward.  He  proves  the  animadverter  to  be  an  inno- 

Animad.  4. 

vator  in  the  opinion  which  he  would  set  up,  and 
that  he  widely  departs  both  from  the  Church  of 
England,  and  from  all  other  reformed  churches,  by 
his  attributing  to  faith  a  causal  energy  of  righteous 
ness,  distinct  from  that  which  is  proper  to  it  as  a 

Answer  to  condition  of  the  evangelical  covenant.     He  defends 

''  his  paraphrase  of  St.  Peter's  words  recorded  in  Acts 

x.  34,  35.  with  much  strength  against  the  weak  and 

Answer  to  peevish  efforts  made  to  oppose  it  :  and  his  internre- 

Animad. 

6,  7.  tation  of  another  passage  of  the  same  apostle,  1  Pet. 
i.  2.  not  only  by  the  authority  of  celebrated  com 
mentators  upon  it,  but  even  of  Calvin  himself:  the 
other  testimonies  also  of  Scripture,  which  had  been 
brought  by  him,  to  evidence  that  some  certain  works 
are  prescribed  as  altogether  needful  to  justification, 
as  particularly,  repentance,  and  the  fruits  of  it,  are 
strenuously  vindicated  by  him,  against  the  negative 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  129 

of  his  opposer.  Whereupon  there  are  four  questions  l67.5- 
discussed  by  him  very  distinctly,  to  set  the  whole 
matter  in  its  true  light,  viz.  1.  Whether  there  be 
any  condition,  properly  so  called,  of  the  evangeli 
cal  covenant,  which  is  not  likewise  a  condition 
of  evangelical  justification  ?  This  Mr.  Gataker  af 
firms  ;  and  Mr.  Bull  denies,  and  proves  the  contrary. 

2.  Whether   even   granting   that    there    is    not    one 
and  the  same  condition  of  tliese  two,  it  be  not  yet 
certain,  that   faith    and  repentance   are   the   condi 
tions  of  one  and  the  same  benefit,  namely,  of  evan 
gelical  justification  ?   Mr.  Bull  justifies  the  affirma 
tive  hereof,  and  clears  it  even  to  a  demonstration. 

3.  Whether  forgiveness  of   sins  doth  enter  into  the 
notion    or    definition    of   evangelical    justification  ? 
The  affirmative  also  of  this  is  held  by  Mr.  Bull,  as 
the  negative  is   by  both   the   Gatakers,  father  and 
son ;  and  is  defended  by  many  illustrious   passages 
of  holy  writ  with  a  great  deal  of  force  and  perspi 
cuity,  not  without  sufficient  answers  to  the  objec 
tions  made  by  either  or  both  of  them.     4.    Whether 
even   granting  that  forgiveness  of  sins   be   not   ne 
cessarily    included    in    the    notion    of  justification 
evangelical,  it  be  not  yet  certain,  that  there  is  one 
and  the  same  condition  of  both  benefits,  namely,  of 
forgiveness    and  justification  ?     And   this   is   deter 
mined  in  the  affirmative  by  our  author,  even  from 
the  very  concessions  of  his  adversary,  while  writing 
against   him.      After   this,    he   distinguisheth    very  Answer  to 
rightly  betwixt  the  internal  and  the  external  works ' 

of  repentance:   and  demonstrates,  that  the  former 
of  these  are  absolutely  necessary,  even  to  that  which 
is  called  the  first  justification.     Then  he  disputeth  Answer  to 
against  his  adversary,  about  his  notion  of  the  instru- 

K 


ISO  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  mentality  of  faith,  in  this  great  affair;  and  he  dis- 
tinguisheth  also  here  betwixt  a  physical  and  a  moral 
instrument ;  and  maketh  it  evident,  that  faith  can 
not,  with  any  propriety,  be  said  to  be  a  physical 
instrument  of  justification,  or  even  so  much  as  a 
moral  one,  without  a  manifest  contradiction  to  the 
whole  tenor  of  the  New  Testament.  According  to 
which,  it  is  demonstrated  by  him,  that  if  by  a  moral 
instrument  be  meant  a  condition,  or  influence,  for 
the  obtaining  of  justification  according  to  God's 
appointment,  then  the  conversion  of  a  sinner  to 
God,  out  of  the  love  of  God  and  charity,  hath  as 
proper  a  moral  instrumentality  to  this  end,  as  faith 
hath,  according  to  the  divine  appointment,  as  mani 
fested  in  the  Gospel.  Upon  which  head  he  hath 
likewise  some  curious  and  useful  observations  con 
cerning  the  diversity  of  phrases  and  terms  used  by 
the  sacred  writers  in  this  matter,  and  the  reasons 
Answer  to  thereof.  He  proceedeth  next  to  clear  himself  from 

Animad.iOi 

the  imputation  of  having  censured  the  English  di 
vines  for  their  precipitancy  or  inadvertency  in  hand 
ling  this  subject,  or  at  least  for  their  incautious 
management  hereof,  so  as  to  give  some  colour  to  the 
excesses  of  the  Antinomians,  Libertines,  and  Fami- 
lists :  and  not  only  sheweth  the  gross  mistake  of  his 
adversary,  in  taking  what  was  meant  of  some  foreign 
protestant  divines,  to  concern  properly  the  divines 
of  the  Church  of  England ;  but  retorteth  closely 
upon  himself,  that  very  thing  which  he  so  warmly 
An^r  to  complaineth  of  to  him.  After  this,  he  discourseth 

Animad.ii.  ,  . 

against  the  ammadverter's  opinion  of  the  imputation 
of  Christ's  righteousness,  and  discovers  the  several 
very  absurd  and  dangerous  consequences  which 
necessarily  accompany  it.  And  he  sheweth  in  parti- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  131 

cular,  how  inconsistent  such  a  notion  is,  either  with  1675- 
the  remission  of  sin  on  God's  part,  or  with  repent 
ance  on  ours;  and  how  it  altogether  taketh  away 
the  necessity  even  of  faith  itself,  in  order  to  justifi 
cation  :  yea,  that  this  being  granted,  it  will  thence 
necessarily  follow,  that  a  man's  justification  is  even 
before  his  faith,  with  other  such  like  absurdities. 
And,  lastly,  he  proveth  how  this  notion  quite  sub 
verts  the  catholic  doctrine  of  the  universal  propiti 
ation  made  by  the  death  of  Christ  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world ;  upon  which  doctrine  the  very  preach 
ing  of  the  Gospel  doth  absolutely  depend.  After 
wards  he  answereth  also  the  several  passages  of 
Scripture  which  are  usually  brought  for  such  a  sort 
of  imputation,  by  some  superficial  considerers,  in 
derogation  of  the  true  terms  required  of  God  in  the 
evangelical  covenant.  Then  he  pushes  home  his  Answer  to 
argument  against  the  solifidians ;  that  whosoever  is 
justified  of  God  by  Christ,  is  absolved  by  the  law  of 
Christ ;  but  no  man  is  absolved  by  the  law  of  Christ 
by  faith  only,  without  works ;  and  consequently  no 
man  is  so  justified.  And  in  vindicating  this  against 
his  adversary,  he  exposeth  the  vanity  of  all  his  argu 
ments  to  the  contrary ;  and  settcth  forth  in  their 
proper  colours  the  fond  and  erroneous  opinions  by 
him  entertained.  Particularly  he  takes  a  great  deal  Answer  to 

.    Animad.  13. 

of  pains  in  refuting  a  fundamental  error  or  this 
writer,  concerning  the  primary  act  of  justifying 
faith,  or  the  ratio  formalis  of  it,  which  he  maketh 
merely  to  consist  in  affiance,  strictly  so  called ;  that 
is,  an  act  of  recumbency  upon  the  merits  of  Christ, 
and  his  imputed  righteousness,  and  in  laying  hold 
of  the  evangelical  promises.  Whereupon  he  treats 
at  large  of  the  difference  between  fides  and  fiducia  ; 

K  2 


1675-  and  having  formed  several  conclusions  or  theses 
concerning  these,  he  unfoldeth  this  matter  very  dis- 

Answer  to  tiiictly  and  clearly.  And  thus  having  hereby  over 
turned  the  main  pillar  of  antinomianism,  chiefly 
founded  in  an  equivocal  sense  of  words,  he  next 
proceedeth  to  maintain  his  argument  taken  from 
the  divine  proceedings  at  the  last  day,  against  the 
objections  of  this  animadverter :  and  on  this  occasion 
sheweth  the  emptiness  of  his  distinction  of  a  right 
ad  rem,  and  a  right  in  re,  which  he  had  brought  to 
evade  the  force  of  that  argument.  For  Mr.  Bull 
proves  to  him,  upon  his  own  very  principles,  that 
whosoever  hath  a  title  to  any  thing,  must  also  have 
a  title  in  it ;  and  on  the  contrary :  so  that  if  charity 
hath  a  right  or  title  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  it 
must  also  have  the  same  to  it,  by  virtue  of  the  evan- 

Answer  to  gelical  covenant ;  even  as  faith.    He  examineth  after 

Animad.i5. 

this,  both  this  and  his  father's  method  of  harmoniz 
ing  St.  James  and  St.  Paul,  being  the  same  with 
that  of  Placaeus.  This  he  doth  with  great  exact 
ness,  and  upon  the  review  of  the  whole,  compares 
their  method  with  his  own,  that  it  might  the  more 
evidently  appear  which  of  them  hath  the  advantage. 
Whereupon  he  defends  against  all  the  subtle  attacks 
of  his  adversary,  his  own  opinion  concerning  faith 
being  always  taken  in  a  complex  sense,  as  compre 
hensive  of  hope  and  charity  with  good  works,  when 
soever,  in  Scripture,  justification  is  attributed  to  it. 
Answer  to  And  argueth,  that  his  method  of  reconciling-  those 

Animad.i6.  & 

apostles  cannot  be  new,  or  of  his  own  invention, 
which  was  approved  by  some  of  the  first  reformers ; 
and  since  that,  by  many  eminent  divines  of  the 
reformation.  Upon  which  he  produceth  a  most 
noble  testimony  of  Zwinglius  to  his  purpose,  out  of 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  133 

that  reformer's  commentaries  concerning  the  true  1675. 
and  false  religion ;  and  sheweth,  that  this  accepta 
tion  of  faith,  according  to  the  complex  notion  there 
of,  was  so  generally  followed  heretofore  by  our  pro- 
testant  divines,  and  so  well  known  to  all,  as  it  gave 
occasion  to  Estius,  in  his  controversies  with  us,  to 
object,  that  most  of  our  writers  did  make  faith  and 
charity  to  be  the  same  thing.  And  then  he  maketh  Answer  to 

,  .  Animad.i?. 

his  reader  see  how  the  state  of  the  question  is,  by 
the  animadverter,  quite  mistaken  concerning  the 
perfection  of  the  Mosaical  law.  Which  law  Mr. 
Bull  denies  to  be  a  law  of  most  perfect  obedience, 
in  the  same  sense  as  the  Gospel  is  so.  Where,  by  a 
law  of  perfect  obedience,  it  is  plain,  that  he  mean- 
eth  nothing  else,  but  such  a  law  as  requireth  of  man 
the  most  perfect  and  complete  righteousness,  as  a 
necessary  condition  of  salvation  ;  according  to  which, 
it  would  be  impossible  for  any  one  man  to  be  saved. 
Whence  there  cannot  be  a  greater  absurdity,  he 
says,  than  to  suppose  the  rule  of  God's  proceedings 
in  the  day  of  judgment,  to  be  this  law  of  perfect 
obedience :  as  nothing  also  is  more  unscriptural, 
than  to  suppose,  that  there  is  any  one  law  which  is 
to  be  the  standard  for  all,  in  that  day ;  seeing  that 
every  one,  according  to  St.  Paul,  shall  then  be  tried, 
according  to  the  law  and  dispensation  under  which 
he  lived.  Now,  he  alloweth  the  law  of  Moses  to  Answer  to 
have  had  a  proper  justification  belonging  to  it ;  and 
hereupon  confirmeth  a  former  distinction  of  his  con 
cerning  a  justification  in  respect  of  this  life,  and 
that  which  is  to  come,  or  to  the  things  of  this  mor 
tal  state,  and  of  that  which  is  eternal ;  or  before 
God,  and  before  the  world ;  after  the  authority  of  Answer  to 

Ammad.  1 9. 

St.  Ambrose  and  St.  Augustin.     Yea,  by  many  argu- 


134  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.    ments,  he  proveth,  that  when  St.  Paul  denies  any 
~  man  to  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses,  the  true 
ground  of  his  argumentation  is,  that  under  the  law 
there  is,  strictly,  no  manner  of  true  justification,  or 
remission  of  sins,  which  reacheth  beyond  this  life  ; 
that  is,  under  the  law,  in  that  relation  wherein  it  is 
considered  by  the  apostle.    This  he  proveth  to  be  the 
very  foundation  on  which  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistles, 
buildeth,  and  answers  the   arguments  for  the  con- 
Answer  to   trary  opinion  defended  by  his  adversary.     Moreover, 
°'  he  defendeth  his  explication  of  this  apostle's  argu 
ment,  drawn  from  the  weakness  of  the  law  of  Moses, 
to  deliver  a  man  from  the  dominion  of  sin,  by  far 
ther  proofs  of  that  matter,  and  answers  to  the  ex 
ceptions  and  objections  made  against  what  was  by 
Answer  to  njm  m  jjjg  Harmony  advanced.     And  whereas  Mr. 

Animad.ai.  ^ 

Bull  was  accused  of  Socinianism,  for  maintaining, 
that  the  law  of  Moses,  having  not  the  promise  of 
eternal  life,  was  not  so  very  fit  to  produce  in  man  a 
fervent,  constant,  and  indefatigable  pursuit  of  virtue 
and  piety ;  he  at  once  fully  clears  himself  from  that 
charge,  and  proveth  also,  that  the  contrary  opinion 
followed  by  his  adversary,  which  makes  life  eternal 
to  have  been  promised  in  the  Old  Testament,  strictly 
taken  as  such,  was  heretofore  condemned  in  Pela- 
gius  by  the  catholics ;  and  that  this  was  downright 
Pelagianism,  in  the  opinion  of  St.  Augustin,  that 
great  asserter  of  the  grace  of  God,  as  it  was  so  also 
Answer  io  esteemed  by  St.  Jerom.  Moreover,  whereas  he  had 

Animad.22. 

asserted,  that  this  law,  strictly  considered  as  such, 
containing  only  temporal  promises  and  threatenings, 
was  thereby  apt  to  beget  in  men  but  low  and  earthly 
thoughts,  he  explains  his  opinion  so  as  to  remove  all 
dangerous  consequences  from  thence,  and  defendeth 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  135 

it  by  the  authority  of  St.  Augustin,  and  even  of  St.     1675. 

Paul  himself,  in  several  most  express  passages   to 

this  purpose.     And  in  the  last  place,  he  most  evi-Answerto 

Ammad.23. 

dently  proveth,  that  the  true  and  genuine  sense  of 
the  Church  of  England,  in  her  eleventh  Article,  was 
by  him  acknowledged  in  his  Harmony;  and  that 
the  sense  which  the  animadverter  affixeth  to  it,  for 
being  diametrically  opposite  to  the  exposition  there 
of  by  the  church  herself,  as  also  to  Scripture  and 
right  reason,  ought  to  be  rejected  by  every  true  son 
thereof.  This  is  the  substance  of  what  he  replied 
to  Mr.  Gataker,  and  which  might  serve  for  an  answer, 
not  only  to  him,  but  to  two  or  three  others  besides, 
who  had  publicly  animadverted  on  his  book. 


XXX.    Whether  this  Mr.  Gataker  did  live  to  see  Some  far- 
Mr.  Bull's  answer  to  his  animadversions,  I  am  not  Tatk>n«  of 


able  to  learn  z.     Nor  am  I  certain  whether  ever  any  ^er' 
thing  was  printed  by  him  of  his  own,  for  the  cause  »age 

of  thi 

he  appeared  so  zealous  in,  as  an  answer  to  Mr.  Bull,  troversy. 
I  know,  indeed,  he  published  a  certain  posthumous 
piece  of  his  father's,  not  long  before,  that  was  left 
by  him  imperfect  on  this  very  subject  a  ;  for  which 
he  is  chastised  b  by  Mr.  Bull,  as  one  who  consulted 
not  the  reputation  of  a  parent,  who  by  his  great 

z  [Bull  published  his  Examen  Censures  in  1675,  Charles  Ga 
taker  died  in  1680.] 

a  [This  was  published  in  1670,  and  entitled,  Antidote  against 
Error,  concerning  Justification,  with  The  Way  of  Truth  and  Peace, 
or  a  Reconciliation  of  the  holy  Apostles  St.  Paul  and  St.  James 
concerning  Justification.  The  first  was  by  Thomas  Gataker,  the 
second  by  his  son  Charles.  The  latter  also  wrote  Ichnographia, 
Doctrina  de  Justification  secundum  typum  in  Monte,  which 
was  published  in  1681.] 

b  Examen  Censurse  Resp.  ad  Animad.  7.  n.  8. 


136  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  critical  knowledge  and  other  learning  had  made 
himself  more  considerable,  than  to  deserve  that 
such-like  crudities  should  be  put  forth  under  his 
name,  at  least  by  a  son.  It  is  true,  Mr.  Bull  men- 
tioneth  a  friendly  conference  between  two  consider 
able  divines  about  the  subject  of  justification,  which 
he  saw  in  manuscript ;  wherein  the  elder  Gataker's 
scheme  of  this  matter  was  very  ingeniously  deli 
neated,  and  wrought  with  no  small  care  and  pains ; 
but  which  yet,  as  to  the  main,  proved  not  satisfac 
tory  to  either  of  these  learned  men.  And  it  is  no 
less  true,  that  another  of  Mr.  Bull's  adversaries  doth 
expressly  mention  a  printed  discourse  of  this  younger 
Gataker's,  seen  by  him,  c  Wherein  he  signifying 
his  dislike  of  Mr.  Bull's,  propounds  a  third  way 
to  reconcile  the  apostles  Paul  and  James.  But 
that  he  did  only  signify  his  dislike  of  Mr.  Bull's 
way,  without  entering  at  all  into  the  merits  of  the 
cause;  and  propose  another  way,  without  troubling 
himself  much  for  an  answer  to  the  arguments  brought 
for  that  which  he  professed  to  dislike,  seemeth  very 
probable ;  both  because  Mr.  Bull,  in  his  Examen, 
never  takes  the  least  notice  of  any  such  discourse ; 
which  he  can  hardly  be  supposed  to  have  utterly 
forgotten  or  neglected,  had  there  been  found  therein 
but  any  appearance  of  argument  against  the  scheme 
that  was  by  him  so  learnedly  and  fully  defended 
against  this  very  writer ;  since  he  is  known  to  have 
condescended  so  far,  by  imposing  even  a  penance 
both  on  his  own  and  his  reader's  patience,  as  to  ex 
amine  minutely  all  that  he  could  find  urged  against 

c  An  Endeavour  to  rectify  some  prevailing  Opinions,  &c.  Lon 
don,  1671.  Pref. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  137 

him,  whether  considerable  or  inconsiderable,  even  1675. 
so  as  not  to  slip  the  most  trifling  objections  and 
petty  cavils  of  this  eager  controvertist,  inasmuch  as 
he  designed  it  to  be  a  thorough  vindication  of  his 
Harmony,  and  would  not  have  one  objection  what 
soever  left  by  him  unexamined  and  unconsidered  : 
and  also  because  the  learned  writer,  who  makes 
mention  of  this  discourse  of  Mr.  Charles  Gataker, 
not  only  judges  him  mistaken  in  the  interpretation 
of  both  the  apostles,  but  owns,  that  Mr.  Bull  had 
said  enough,  in  his  Harmonia  Apostolica,  to  make 
it  appear,  that  he  hath  not  given  the  right  sense 
so  much  as  of  one  of  them.  Now  it  appear- 
eth,  that  Mr.  Gataker  published  his  discourse  of 
Justification  at  the  same  time  that  Mr.  Bull  was 
writing  against  him,  or  a  little  before,  that  is,  in  or 
about  the  year  1670'1;  forasmuch  as  we  find  it  men 
tioned  the  next  year,  by  the  aforesaid  author,  who 
gives  his  character  of  it,  and  acquaints  us  withal, 
that  it  came  not  forth  till  after  he  had  finished  his 
own  reflections  upon  Mr.  Bull's  book.  So  that  it 
must  needs  have  been  printed  several  months  after 
the  publication  of  the  Harmonia ;  and  yet  at  far 
thest  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1671.  And 
therefore,  had  there  been  any  thing  in  it  worthy 
his  notice,  it  could,  doubtless,  never  have  escaped 
our  author's  most  strict  examination. 

It  must  here  be  confessed,  that  Mr.  Bull,  as  he A  reflection 

on  Mr. 

was  a  man,  and  consequently  subject  to  human  pas- Bull's  ma- 
sions,  being  so  highly  provoked  by  the  undeserved  Ofa;t 
treatment  of  him  by  Mr.  Gataker,  and  the  unfair hltn> 
methods  which  he  made  use  of,  doth  now  and  then 

d  [It  was  published  in  1670.] 


138  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  treat  him  again  with  more  severity  than  I  could 
have  wished.  This,  the  natural  lire  and  vivacity  of 
his  temper,  with  the  sense  of  the  injustice  done,  not 
only  to  himself,  but  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  reli 
gion,  seems  to  have  prompted  this  good  man  to, 
and  to  have  carried  him  a  little  too  far,  in  my  opin 
ion,  for  the  sake  of  a  triumph  over  his  adversary. 
For  I  cannot  but  think  all  controversies  in  matters 
of  religion  are  then  best  handled,  and  with  the 
greatest  probability  of  success,  when  they  are  man 
aged  calmly  without  all  particular  resentments,  and 
with  all  the  tenderness  that  is  possible  towards 
those  persons  whom  we  are  endeavouring  to  reclaim 
into  the  way  of  truth.  And  that,  especially,  no 
thing  can  be  more  unbecoming  the  character  of 
divines,  than  for  them  who  are  to  be  the  messengers 
of  peace  to  wrangle  one  with  another  about  the 
way  ;  and  in  the  mean  time  thereby  to  neglect  the 
great  things  of  their  message,  and  such  as  accom 
pany  peace.  But  if,  where  the  provocation  was  so 
excessive,  as  in  this  case,  and  the  goodness  of  his 
cause  so  very  clear,  and  so  acknowledged  by  the 
best  judges,  the  zeal  of  Mr.  Bull  might  sometimes 
happen  to  transport  him  a  little  in  the  very  conflict 
with  his  adversary,  and  cause  him  to  go  beyond  the 
measures  of  a  pacific  writer;  he  was  still  careful  to 
adhere  most  strictly  to  the  truth,  without  partiality 
or  respect  of  persons ;  and  was  ready  to  alter  and 
expunge  any  thing  in  his  writings,  that  through  too 
much  severity  might  be  apt  to  give  offence,  and  so 
to  hinder  the  good  effects  of  his  labour  of  love  for 
reconciling  persons  to  the  truth.  This  made  him 
submit  so  freely  all  which  he  had  thoughts  of  pub 
lishing  to  the  censure  of  his  learned  friends,  that 


Dll.  GEORGE  BULL.  139 

they  might  not  only  consider  the  argument,  but  1675. 
soften  also  what  they  should  see  fit  in  the  expres 
sion.  And  notwithstanding  that  the  elder  Gataker 
appeareth  to  have  been  no  less  against  the  opinion 
Mr.  Bull  defended  than  his  son  Charles,  yet  Mr. 
Bull  treats  him  with  abundance  of  respect,  as  often 
as  he  hath  occasion  to  mention  him  ;  giveth  the 
titles  of  e  dofitissimus  and  pientissimus  to  him  ; 
allows  him  to  have  been  really  a  considerable  per 
son  ;  and  the  scheme  which  he  had  formed  of  this 
matter,  to  be  at  least  very  ingenious  ;  saying  more 
over,  that  he  held  his  memory  in  honour,  and  would 
himself,  were  his  son  silent  in  it,  proclaim  his  praise  ; 
and  where  he  dissents  from  him,  answers  his  argu 
ments  without  any  reflection. 

This  Mr.  Thomas  Gataker,  when  he  was  young,  An  account 
began  to  preach  upon  the  Epistle  of  St.  James,  in  " 


the  reign  of  king  James  the  First,  this  subject  b 

ing  about  that  time  much  agitated  by  some  eminent  B"n  came 

.    .  .  .  to  be  en  - 

divines  of  our  church:  and  according  to  his  f  son's  gaged  with 
relation,  seemeth  to  have  preached  it  through,  or  to 
have  given  at  least  a  methodical  explication  of  the 
whole  design  thereof,  and  of  the  more  considerable 
parts  relating  to  his  purpose.  And  a  little  before 
the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  wars,  when  most  of  the 
pulpits  of  London  were  hotly  contesting  and  fighting 
about  the  grace  of  God,  and  the  method  of  man's 
justification  by  it,  he  resumed  his  former  task,  being 
sincerely  desirous  of  reconciling  differences,  and  of 


e  Respons.  ad  Animad.  7.  and  15. 

f  A.  D.  1617.  Aggressus  in  concionibus  B.  Jacobi  Epistolam 
explicare,  quod  Dei  ope  methodo  accuratissima  peregit.  Animad. 
15.  ad  Dissert.  2.  cap.  3. 


140  THE  LIFE  OF 

l675-  promoting  peace  and  truth  together;  for  which  end, 
as  he  had  before  preached  upon  St.  James,  in  like 
manner  as  Mr.  Bull  also  began  first  with  him,  he 
now  proceeded  to  preach  upon  St.  Paul,  and  took 
also  the  very  same  text  for  his  discourse  which  Mr. 
Bull  pitched  on  for  his  second  dissertation.  About 
the  year  1651,  the  good  old  man  began  to  look  over 
his  loose  papers  upon  this  subject,  and  the  fragments 
or  heads  of  his  sermons  for  harmonizing  these  two 
apostles,  with  a  design  of  fitting  for  the  press,  the 
substance  of  what  he  had  occasionally  delivered 
from  the  pulpit.  But  he  being  now  broken,  and 
very  old,  was  not  able  to  finish  what  he  undertook. 
And  all  his  papers  falling  to  his  son,  upon  his  death, 
which  followed  very  quickly,  these  were  by  him, 
out  of  an  over-fondness  to  all  his  father's  perform 
ances,  published  with  all  their  imperfections,  to 
the  no  small  disparagement  both  of  his  own,  and 
his  father's  name,  as  before  was  hinted. 


mania. 


XXXI.  Not  long  after  this,  Mr.  Joseph  Truman, 

motives  ot     o   TVI Q  vi    C\\     Q    f*f"ii"i  I £*7*    h  £*Q  fi    ^hon    i"  h  o     V/~MI TI rroi*  I  T*S i~ Q  Lr<~>v 

Cu    llldil      \Ji      C*     \j\J\JL\5L      llC/dvJ,      L  I  1  <  I J  1       HJ.O       y  w  Ullii  d      VJ(  ( 1 1.  i  L  1\  t    i  . 

J\l  r.  A  ru- 

man's  writ-  and  one  also  not  unacquainted  with  the  ancient  Fa- 
the  Har-    thers,  who  had  before  written  and  published  a  short 
discourse  concerning  the  apostle  Paul's  meaning,  of 
justification  by  faith  without  works% ;  finding  some 
of  his  opinions   therein   advanced,   to   be  not   only 
shaken  by  the  Harmonia  Apostolica,  but  to  be  in 
danger  of  being  perfectly   routed  ;    and  perceiving 
also   that   the   sentiments  contrary   to  his  did  very 

S  [He  published  in  1669,  The  Great  Propitiation,  or  Christ's 
Satisfaction  and  Man's  Justification  by  it,  with  a  discourse  concern 
ing  St.  Paul's  meaning  of  Justification  by  Faith;  and  in  1671,  A 
Discourse  of  natural  and  moral  Impotency.'} 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  141 

much  daily  prevail,  by  the  reading  of  that  treatise,     1675. 


set  himself  to  write  an  answer  in  English,  to  that 
part  of  it  which  chiefly  concerned  himself.  Which 
answer  was  afterwards  published  by  him,  under  the 
title  of  An  Endeavour  to  rectify  some  prevailing 
Opinions  contrary  to  the  Doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England:  by  the  author  of  The  Great  Propiti 
ation^.  In  the  preface  to  which,  the  reader  is 
made  acquainted,  "  that  about  half  a  year  after  that 
"  he  had  published  some  sermons,  entitled  The 
"  Great  Propitiation,  whereto  was  added  that  short 
"  discourse  aforesaid,  concerning  justification  by 
"faith,  in  the  sense  of  St.  Paul ;  there  came  forth 
"  a  learned  book  called  Harmonia  Apostolica,  writ- 
"  ten  by  Mr.  George  Bull,  which  quite  crossing  the 
"  interpretation  he  had  given  of  St.  Paul,  he  was 
"  occasioned  by  some  occurrences,  which  it  con- 
"  cerned  not  the  reader  to  know,  to  write  the  sub- 
"  stance  of  those  reflections  upon  it  for  some  private 
"  use."  For  he  telleth  us,  they  were  written  with 
out  any  design  of  printing  them,  within  three  months 
after  the  coming  forth  of  the  said  book  ;  but  were 
not  published  till  about  two  years  after,  when  he 
observed  how  fast  some  opinions  got  ground  in  the 
Church  of  England,  contrary  to  his  exposition  there 
of ;  which  was  attributed  by  him,  in  a  great  measure, 
to  Mr.  Bull,  and  more  especially  to  the  latter  part 
of  his  performance. 

For  Mr.  Truman    could    find    nothing    to    object 
against    the    former    part    of  it,    nor   even    against 

several  chapters  of  the  latter ;  nay,  he  condemned  His  cen 
sure,  how 

Mr.  Gataker  for  writing  against  him  in   this  point,  different 

h  [Published  in  1671.] 


142  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  affirming,  that  he  did  not  give  the  right  interpretation 
from  that  either  of  St.  James  or  St.  Paul ;  and  for  the  proof 
fu!!.r'!r,?r  hereof,  he  referred  his  reader  to  his  own  discourse 

til  K I  I  .    (111(1 

h°1wfavour- before-mentioned,  and  even  to  Mr.  Bull  also,  whom 

able  to 

Mr.  Hull,  he  allowed  to  have  written  satisfactorily  in  many 
things,  and  to  have  sufficiently  refuted  his  hypothe 
sis  for  the  reconciliation  of  these  two  apostles,  how 
ever  ingenious  this  might  possibly  appear  at  first 
view.  Now,  nothing  could  happen  more  honourable 
to  Mr.  Bull,  than  this  testimony  from  an  adversary 
in  his  favour,  recommending  his  book  to  be  read  by 
all  such  as  were  willing  to  have  a  clear  and  full 
view  of  the  controversy  ;  yielding  so  great  a  part  of 
it  to  contain  a  fair  explication  and  vindication  of 
the  truth ;  and  preferring  his  performance  to  that  of 
one  who  appeared  after  him,  not  without  several 
considerable  advantages  and  assistances  from  the 
learned  notes  of  an  eminent  divine,  and  celebrated 
critic,  that  for  many  years  together  had  made  this 
his  particular  study.  Whether  '  The  Way  to  Truth 
and  Peace,  which  was  published  under  the  name 
of  Mr.  Charles  Gataker,  in  order  to  a  reconciliation 
between  St.  Paid  and  St.  James  concerning  justi 
fication,  were  really  his  own  or  his  father's,  is  not 
material  to  be  known k:  but  it  is  certain  that  both 
Mr.  Bull  and  Mr.  Truman  did  agree  in  this,  that  it 
was  already  answered  sufficiently  before  ever  it  did 
appear;  and  that  neither  truth  nor  peace  could 
solidly  be  established  by  the  way  therein  taken. 

HOW  he          These  two  go  more  than  half  way  together,  being 

agreed  and  •          " 

disagreed    perfectly  agreed  about  faith,  and  not  disagreeing  in 

with  Mr.  . 

Bull.         the  exclusion  of  several  sorts  of  modern  reconcilers  : 

5  London,  410.  1670.  k  [See  p.  135.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  143 

but  they  differ  about  the  law,  and  the  true  extent  of  1675. 
its  notion  ;  or  they  seem  at  least  to  differ  more  than 
perhaps  they  really  do.  For  that  which  Mr.  Bull 
calls  ipsissimum  Evangelium,  or  the  very  Gospel, 
is  called  by  Mr.  Truman  the  Law,  in  the  most  per 
fect  sense  of  it.  And  hence,  according  to  one,  the 
Gospel  may  very  truly  be  said  to  be  a  law  of  most 
perfect  obedience ;  while,  according  to  the  other, 
the  Mosaical  law  may  as  truly  be  said  to  be  such  ; 
that  is,  with  different  respects  and  views.  The  one 
is  very  large  in  shewing  the  defects  of  the  law,  and 
how  it  both  wanted  an  external  help  for  encourage 
ment  of  perfect  obedience  to  it,  being  the  promise 
of  eternal  life ;  and  an  internal  one,  being  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost :  and  the  other  is  no  less  so,  in 
shewing  the  perfection  of  it,  and  how  it  wanted 
neither  one  help  nor  the  other.  And  as  Mr.  Bull 
hath  many  strong  arguments  for  the  disability  of 
the  law,  either  to  work  true  sanctification  in  man, 
or  to  lay  hold  on  eternal  life :  so  hath  Mr.  Truman 
many  others  for  the  ability  of  the  same  law,  as 
taken  in  his  sense,  in  order  to  attain  these  very 
ends.  It  is  certain,  that  they  had  both  of  them 
different  views  ;  but  it  is  not  quite  so  certain  that 
they  both  had  always  different  opinions,  when  they 
expressed  themselves  after  different  ways.  And  of 
this  it  were  easy  to  give  instances,  if  it  were  here 
necessary. 

But   moreover,   there  \vere  besides    Mr.  Truman, How  some 

concurred 

not  a  few  others,  and  those  both  learned  and  pious,  with  him  in 

tlip  vcrv  ot*~ 

in  Mr.  Bull's  own  judgment,  who  were  not  able  so  fence  taken, 
perfectly  to  digest  the  seventh  chapter  of  his  second Mnii'uiT 
dissertation,  which  treateth  of  the  twofold  defect  of  ^other- 
the  law  of  Moses,  and  maintaineth,  that  this  law  esteem. 


144  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  cannot  absolutely  and  without  any  consideration  be 
~~  called  a  rule  of  perfect  obedience.  Some  there 
were  more  violent  than  the  rest,  of  whom  he 
complaineth,  that  they  made  very  tragical  outcries 
against  him,  as  if  by  such  an  hypothesis  as  this, 
"  the  whole  system  of  orthodox  divinity  should  be 
"  shaken,  yea,  broken  to  pieces,  and  utterly  de- 
"  stroyed ;  and  that  the  very  foundations  both  of 
"  Law  and  Gospel  were  hereby  at  once  undermined 
"  and  overturned."  As  for  them  that  were  not  so 
outrageous,  but  shewed  themselves  to  be  of  a  true 
Christian  temper,  and  not  far  from  the  truth,  our 
learned  harmonist  was  ready  and  willing  to  give 
them  all  the  satisfaction  that  was  in  his  power ;  pro 
fessing  at  the  same  time  that  he  did  not  insist  on 
this  matter  as  necessary  for  the  reconciliation  of  St. 
James  with  St.  Paul ;  but  that  he  did  submit  it  to 
better  judgments,  having  only  made  the  proposal  for 
the  sake  of  truth  and  peace,  with  a  desire  that  it 
might  be  freely  and  impartially  considered.  Indeed, 
as  he  proposed  his  opinion  to  the  learned,  not  to  the 
vulgar,  by  writing  in  a  language  which  none  but  the 
learned  understood  ;  so  he  expected,  that  they  who 
should  undertake  to  answer  his  arguments,  would 
follow  also  his  method  therein,  and  not  trouble  the 
heads  of  the  weak  and  the  unlearned  with  doubtful 
disputations,  and  matters  above  their  reach  to  judge 
of  with  any  exactness,  by  appealing  to  them  in  their 
own  native  language ;  and  this  when  the  controversy 
was  at  first  otherwise  laid,  and  brought  up  from  the 
pulpit,  and  consequently  from  the  common  people, 
to  be  debated  and  decided  by  the  learned.  There 
fore  he  was  not  at  all  pleased  that  Mr.  Truman 
should  bring  it  down  again. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  145 

Indeed,  it  would  seem  very  absurd  for  any  one  to 


answer  a  Latin  treatise  in  English ;  and  especially  HOW  he 
if  it  were  purposely  written  in  Latin,  that  it  might  ^J^ 
not  fall  promiscuously  into  the  hands  of  the  common  ^"'BUI 
English  readers,  for  fear  of  disturbing  their  brains  j^ns 
with  certain  arguments  not  suited  to  their  capacity ;  in  i 
as  plainly  was  the  case  of  Mr.  Bull.  But  then,  on  the 
other  side,  it  must  be  owned,  that  Mr.  Truman  had 
published,  the  very  same  year  in  which  Mr.  Bull's 
Harmonia  Apostolica  appeared,  and  some  months 
too  before  it,  his  treatise  of  the  *  Great  Propitiation, 
which  had  been  well  received  by  some  learned  men 
of  the  Church  of  England,  and  particularly  by  that 
great  and  zealous  assertor  of  primitive  antiquity, 
bishop  Gunning,  who  for  the  sake  thereof  desired 
to  be  acquainted  with  the  author,  though  a  dis 
senter.  So  that  he  was  really  the  first  of  the  two  in 
this  controversy,  wherein  they  were  both  engaged 
unknown  to  each  other.  And  besides  this,  as  the 
said  Harmonia  Apostolica  was  the  first-born  of 
Mr.  Bull's  productions,  so  was  likewise  The  Great 
Propitiation  of  Mr.  Truman's,  and  both  alike  fa 
voured  by  them  as  such.  In  the  treatise  of  the 
former,  which  was  last  printed,  we  have  the  sum  of 
what  he  preached  at  several  times,  set  forth  for  the 
use  of  the  learned,  together  with  a  very  learned 
vindication  thereof,  from  Scripture,  reason,  and  anti 
quity,  in  a  language  and  style  proper  only  to  them  : 
but  in  the  treatise  of  the  latter,  which  was  first 
printed,  there  is  contained  the  substance  of  several 
sermons  preached  upon  that  great  article  of  our 
religion,  and  made  public  in  the  same  language  in 

1  London,  1669. 
L 


146  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  which  they  were  preached,  for  the  use  of  the  un- 
~~ learned  as  well  as  the  learned:  whence  having  first 
published  his  opinion  in  English,  both  from  the  pulpit 
and  the  press,  Mr.  Truman  thought  he  had  a  right 
to  vindicate  it  in  the  same  language,  notwithstanding 
that  the  strongest  arguments  against  it  were  deli 
vered  in  a  Latin  treatise,  to  which  therefore  a  Latin 
answer  was  not  without  reason  expected.  And  far 
ther,  considering  that  this  matter  had  been  first  de 
bated  by  the  most  learned  and  pious  Dr.  Hammond, 
in  English  also,  whom  Mr.  Bull  is  supposed  by  this 
author  to  follow  ;  he  concluded  to  write  on  in  the 
vulgar  tongue  rather  than  in  the  learned. 

Besides  these  two,  he  seemeth  to  have  had  a  third 
motive  both  for  writing  against  Mr.  Bull,  and  for  his 
writing  against  him  in  English  rather  than  Latin  ; 
which  was,  that  by  exposing  certain  doctrines  and 
opinions,  as  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England,  which  were  by  the  most  eminent  divines 
thereof  maintained  at  that  time,  and  by  Mr.  Bull  then 
defended  with  great  learning  and  force  in  his  said 
book,  he  might  under  the  pretext  of  rectifying 
them,  and  of  composing  many  differences  in  opinion, 
to  use  his  own  words,  add  some  weight  to  his  rea 
sons  for  separation,  from  the  maintainers  of  them, 
and  from  the  society  whereof  they  were  members. 
For  it  looks  as  if  it  were  his  design  to  shew  hereby, 
that  he  was  no  such  separatist  from  the  Church 
of  England,  whose  doctrines  he  would  appear  as 
heartily  to  embrace,  as  some  who  lived  in  her 
bosom  ;  and  that  many  abiding  in  her  ministerial 
communion  were  yet  greater  nonconformists  than 
ever  he  was;  while  professing  themselves  to  be  di 
vines  of  the  Church  of  England,  they  nevertheless 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  147 

departed,  as  he  thought,  from  the  very  principles  on  l675- 
which  the  Reformation  was  founded.  It  was  his 
misfortune,  upon  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  not  to  be 
thoroughly  satisfied  in  all  that  was  required  of  him 
for  his  continuance  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry ; 
and  he  was  jealous  of  some  advances  made  towards 
Socinianism,  as  well  as  carrying  too  high  a  contro 
versy  about  things  in  their  nature  indifferent.  But 
he  endeavoured  still  to  keep  a  fair  correspondence 
with  the  Church  of  England,  to  speak  of  her  with 
esteem,  to  make  honourable  mention  of  her  bishops, 
to  express  himself  as  one  of  her  members,  and 
actually  to  defend  lay -communion  with  her.  And 
therefore  he  would  not  be  thought  to  have  written 
against  her  by  such  an  essay  as  this ;  which  was  very 
probably  intended  by  him  for  his  own  justification  : 
and  to  insinuate  that  there  might  be  more  danger  to 
be  apprehended  by  the  Church  of  England  from  a 
nonconformity  to  her  doctrines,  than  from  one  to  her 
discipline.  These  I  take  to  be  the  chief  motives  of 
his  undertaking  to  write  against  Mr.  Bull  and  others, 
and  of  making  this  his  public  appeal,  not  in  Latin, 
as  Mr.  Bull  had  done,  but  in  English,  as  properly 
concerning  the  English  Church.  I  must  now  give 
some  account  of  what  he  hath  performed  in  this 
enterprise,  so  far  as  our  author  is  concerned  with 
him ;  without  which  the  history  of  this  controversy, 
and  consequently  of  the  works  of  so  great  a  man  of 
our  church,  would  remain  but  very  imperfect.  To 
proceed  then, 

XXXII.  Mr.  Truman  having  published  about  the  An  account 
beginning  of  the  year  1669  his  Great  Propitiation 
aforesaid,  wherein    the   article   of  justification  was  fJ 

L  2 


148  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  necessarily  treated  of,  for  a  fuller  illustration  of  the 
hhiTa^inTt same  he  added  an  Appendix  to  it,  concerning  the 
^^5'^ meaning  of  the  apostle  Paul,  in  treating  this  subject; 
ofMr.Buii.  jn  wnjch  he  will  have  the  apostle  to  dispute  against 
justification  by  perfect  obedience  to  the  law,  as  a  thing 
impossible  to  a  man  in  this  life ;  and  our  Lord  not 
to  have  added  any  thing  new  to  the  law  in  his 
sermon  on  the  mount,  but  only  to  have  vindicated 
it  from  corrupt  interpretations.  For  without  con 
sidering  at  all  the  infirmity  of  the  law,  as  being 
referred  to  by  the  apostle,  he  insisted  that  not  only 
an  outward  obedience  to  it  was  required  of  God,  but 
also  that  which  was  inward  and  perfect ;  and  that 
therefore  a  man  was  bound  by  it  to  live  perfectly, 
and  free  from  all  manner  of  sin,  both  outwardly  and 
inwardly,  looking  beyond  temporal  promises  and 
threats  to  those  that  are  eternal.  And  besides  this, 
he  seemed  to  maintain  that  a  man  might  be  obliged 
to  do  somewhat,  which  it  was  not  in  his  power  to 
do ;  and  might  also  be  justly  punished  for  not  doing 
it,  where  the  disability  or  impotence  was  not  natural, 
but  proceeded  originally  from  his  own  fault. 

Now  when  after  this  another  scheme  for  the  inter 
pretation  of  St.  Paul  was  brought  forth  by  Mr.  Bull, 
which  he  found  to  contradict  his  in  some  material 
points,  or  at  least  not  to  be  easily  reconcilable  with 
it,  he  set  himself  hereupon  to  defend  his  own  scheme, 
as  the  only  orthodox  one,  thinking  that  Mr.  Bull 
would  make  an  intolerable  change  in  the  very  sub 
stance  of  the  body  of  divinity.  And  in  this  view  he 
published  not  very  long  afterward m,  A  Discourse 
of  natural  and  moral  Iwpotency,  upon  the  principles 

"i    [In  1671.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  H9 

laid  down  in  his  former  discourse;  in  which  some  1675. 
chapters  of  Mr.  Bull's  second  dissertation  are  indi 
rectly  attacked.  For  he  looked  upon  this  distinction 
to  be  of  such  importance  in  divinity,  as  that  they 
who  should  speak  or  write  of  the  controversies  about 
justification,  grace,  free-will,  the  law  of  works,  faith, 
evangelical  perfection,  and  such  like,  without  keep 
ing  clear  notions  about  this,  would  certainly  speak 
and  write  like  children  concerning  them,  though 
otherwise  never  so  capable  and  learned  :  as  also  that 
a  person  but  of  ordinary  understanding,  by  keeping 
to  this  distinction,  might  competently  satisfy  himself 
and  others  (if  willing  to  be  satisfied)  in  such  contro 
versies  as  have  posed  the  greatest  wits  and  scholars 
that  deviate  from  it.  This  he  hath  treated  at  large 
with  great  metaphysical  subtlety  for  the  learned, 
and  with  sufficient  plainness  in  the  practical  infer 
ences  for  the  use  of  the  unlearned.  Notwithstanding 
which,  whatever  he  might  pretend,  he  appeared  to 
several  to  teach  here  a  new  divinity,  and  to  deliver 
strange  opinions  and  doctrines  very  remote  from  the 
common  sentiments  of  men,  according  as  he  himself 
was  indeed  sensible  of  beforehand.  Wherefore  he 
prudently  abstaineth  from  mentioning  of  names,  that 
none  might  hereby  be  provoked  against  him,  as  he 
was  not  without  reason  apprehensive  of.  And  with 
out  telling  his  own  name,  that  he  might  not  either 
expose  himself,  or  do  any  prejudice  thereby  to  a  cause 
he  was  so  fond  of;  he  cared  not  to  let  the  world 
know  any  more  of  him,  than  that  he  lived  obscurely, 
and  was  the  author  of  such  a  book,  as  had  not  been 
ill  received  by  the  public. 

There  are  two  editions  of   this  discourse,  which 
because  they  afford  an  occasion  to  Mr.  Bull  of  giving 


150  THE  LIFE  OF 

>675-  us  his  more  mature  and  accurate  thoughts  upon  so 
nice  a  subject,  will  deserve  not  to  be  forgotten  :  the 
one  was  taken  care  of  by  himself,  but  the  other  by  a 
friend  after  his  decease,  with  some  additions  left  by 
the  author  under  his  own  hand ;  and  particularly  an 
Appendix  for  farther  clearing  up  and  vindicating 
the  same  discourse,  in  which  he  declareth  his  opinion 
concerning  the  propagation  of  the  soul  and  sin. 
This  second  edition  had  his  name  put  to  it,  and  his 
quality.  The  principles  upon  which  he  here  goeth 
are  these:  1.  No  man  is  bound  by  any  law  of  God 
or  man,  farther  than  his  natural  faculties  and  powers 
reach.  2.  A  man  is  bound  by  the  law  of  God,  so 
far  as  these  natural  powers  do  reach,  and  his  great 
est  aversation  of  will  to  obey  the  same  will  not  ex 
cuse  him,  but  rather  add  to  his  inexcusableness. 
3.  Such  an  aversation  of  will  in  man  doth  certainly 
hinder  his  compliance  with  God's  commandments, 
till  God  takes  it  away ;  or  till  by  some  supereffluence 
of  grace,  which  he  is  not  in  justice  bound  to  afford, 
he  overcorneth  this  reluctance  of  the  will.  Whence 
this  author  inferreth,  and  laboureth  to  prove,  1.  That 
a  man's  culpable  impotency  lieth  only  in  a  disabi 
lity  to  do  what  he  hath  a  power  to  do;  or  in  his 
not  being  able  to  do  in  one  sense,  what  he  can  do  in 
another.  And,  2.  That  the  effect  of  divine  grace 
consisted!  not  barely  in  a  man's  receiving  from  God 
a  power  to  obey  his  commands;  but  in  something- 
over  and  beside,  to  cause  a  man  to  do  what  he  is 
bound  to  do,  and  would  be  to  blame  for  not  doing. 
These  principles  and  inferences  were  afterwards  ex 
amined  by  Mr.  Bull,  both  in  Latin  and  English,  on 
occasion  of  his  last  treatise,  which  came  out  soon 
after  to  back  this,  and  is  directly  levelled  against  our 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  151 

author,  out  of  whose  Harmonia  Apostolica  he  hath  1675. 
translated  several  leaves  together,  and  almost  whole  ~ 
chapters,  thinking  to  overthrow  his  hypothesis  by 
some  arguments  which  he  hath  brought  against  it, 
and  to  establish  his  own.  And  in  this  last  book, 
wherein  he  expresseth  so  much  his  concern  for  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  his  zeal  to 
correct  the  opinions  of  some  learned  men  in  her  com 
munion  contrary  to  it ;  he  frequently  referreth  to  the 
aforesaid  discourse,  wherein  he  had  laid  down  these 
principles,  and  drawn  several  corollaries  from  them 
to  his  purpose.  And  of  this  as  particular  an  account 
as  is  needful,  for  the  perfect  understanding  the  his 
tory  of  the  works  of  so  great  a  bishop  in  our  church, 
and  of  so  eminent  a  defender  of  the  catholic  faith, 
will  not  surely  be  altogether  unacceptable ;  since  it 
must  needs  contribute  more  than  a  little  to  the  right 
state  of  certain  questions,  which  the  generality  of 
people  are  ordinarily  for  considering  but  on  one  side 
only  ;  and  to  the  giving  a  fair  prospect  of  the  argu 
ments  on  both  sides,  without  passion  or  prejudice, 
that  upon  summing  up  of  the  whole,  it  may  be  more 
easy  for  any  one  to  judge  on  which  side  the  advan 
tage  doth  lie. 

Now  therefore  he  saith  that  the  learned  author's  An  account 
design  is  very  commendable,  that  his  whole  first  dis-sign  and 
sertation  concerning  the  sense  of  the  apostle  James,  "Jf ]!,"(t  ° 
in  affirming  justification  by  works  as  a  condition,  istreatlsc- 
acute,  solid,  and  cogent  :  and  not  only  this,  but  that 
so  also  is  all  generally  in  his  second  dissertation  to 
the  fifth  chapter,  and  part  of  it.     And  he  is  entirely 
one  with  him,  so  long  as  he  explaineth  or  defendeth 
the  meaning  of  St.  James,  or  discovers th  the  weak 
ness  and  falsehood  of  the  attempts  of  many  writers, 


152  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  designing  to  reconcile  the  seemingly  contrary  expres 
sions  of  this  apostle  with  those  of  St.  Paul  :  yea,  he 
thinketh  what  is  written  by  our  author  hereupon  is 
highly  worth  the  reading  of  any  that  have  other  ap 
prehensions  of  the  meaning  of  St.  James,  or  that  are 
not  satisfied  that  the  apostle  Paul  by  faith  meaneth 
the  whole  necessary  duty  of  a  Christian.  Moreover 
he  granteth  and  lamenteth,  that  many  important 
doctrines  of  the  reformed  churches  are  frequently 
by  too  many  grossly  explained,  so  as  to  have  ill 
consequences  flowing  from  them ;  which,  if  rightly 
understood,  would  be  found  not  to  patronize  but  to 
disown  such  consequences.  And  particularly  in  the 
protestant  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  accord 
ing  to  St.  Paul,  he  granteth  Mr.  Bull  to  have  rightly 
interpreted  what  this  apostle  meaneth  \)v  faith,  and 
consequently  to  have  rightly  explained  the  doctrine 
of  the  reformed  churches  therein,  wrhile  he  proveth 
that  we  are  to  understand,  not  one  single  virtue  by 
faith,  but  the  whole  Gospel-condition,  the  whole 
duty  required  for  salvation,  as  the  obedience  of 
faith.  So  that  the  whole  controversy  of  Mr.  Truman 
with  him  is  only  about  that  part  of  the  second  dis 
sertation  which  undertaketh  to  prove  what  St.  Paul 
meant  by  works  of  the  law.  And  Mr.  Bull  is  charged 
with  following  herein  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Hammond,  as 
it  is  laid  down  in  his  Practical  Catechism,  very  fully. 
Principal  NOW  the  first  great  mistakes  as  he  will  have  them, 

mistakes  ' 

charged      the  TTpwra  ^evSt),  in  that  part  of  Mr.  Bull's  book,  which 

HUU,  P. 4.   he  esteemeth  the  occasion  of  all  his  other  mistakes, 

JJ"2   r       in  relation   to  the  apostle  Paul's    sense  in   denying 

justification  by  works,  and  indeed  of  the  mistakes 

also  of  many  other  learned  authors,  (as  Episcopius, 

bishop  Taylor,  &c.)  being  much  of  his  judgment  in 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  153 

the  particulars  here  disputed   of;    are  made  to  be     1675. 
these:   viz.  1.  His  concluding  that  there  is  no  lawpageT™ 
which  proposeth   future  rewards  and  punishments, 
but  the  Gospel  or  law  of  grace.    2.  His  not  consider-  Page  14. 
ing   the  difference  between  an  original  law  and  a 
remedying  law,  or  conditional  act  of  oblivion  distinct 
from  that  first  law.     3.  His  not  understanding  the  Page  19. 
difference    between  natural  and    moral   impotence. 
4.  His  notions  of  the  law  of  Moses,  as  having  only  Page  2  2. 
temporal   promises   and  threats   annexed   to  it,  and 
being    void    of    spiritual    and    internal    commands. 
These  he  supposeth  to  be  the  fundamental  mistakes 
of  Mr.  Bull,  and  other  learned  divines  in  the  Church 
of  England,  which   he  endeavoureth   to  confute  to 
the  utmost  of  his  power,  and  must  be  acknowledged 
to  have  said  some  things  hereupon  that  seem  not 
inconsiderable. 

XXXIII.  For  because  he  knew  not  of  any  that  had 
spoken  exactly  and  satisfactorily  of  the  law,  in  the 
several  notions  and  acceptations  of  it,  nor  in  all  things 
rightly,  at  least  not  comprehensively  enough  in  his 
opinion  ;  he  thought  it  necessary  to  write  somewhat 
largely  and  distinctly  concerning  it ;  in  order  to  de 
stroy  both  Mr.  Bull's  hypothesis,  and  likewise  to  lay 
a  foundation  for  the  right  understanding  not  only 
of  the  passages  of  the  apostle  in  debate,  but  of  other 
passages  also  of  the  New  Testament,  respecting  the 
law ;  and  particularly  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
where  law,  he  thinks,  is  to  be  taken  in  a  different 
sense  from  that  wherein  it  is  in  the  places  now  in 
dispute.  His  thoughts  upon  the  matter,  in  short,  The  prin 

H  IT  1  •  P'6S    °f  ^ 

are  these:  that  the  law  or  Moses  may  be  considered  Truman, 
either  as  to  temporal  respects  only,  or  as  to  the 


154  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  cerns  of  the  life  to  come,  and  that  under  both  these 
"  respects  it  ought  to  be  again  considered,  either  as 
the  original  law  itself,  or  as  the  remedying  law  to 
it.  And  accordingly  he  hath  four  several  notions 
Page  24.  ancl  interpretations  of  the  law.  First,  he  considereth 
it  in  the  external  political  sense,  wherein  it  had  only, 
as  temporal  punishments  for  offences,  so  only  tem 
poral  promises  of  peace,  prosperity,  and  long  life  in 
the  land  of  Canaan,  upon  obedience  to  the  law  ;  and 
also  had  in  this  sense  no  spiritual  or  internal  precepts. 
However,  he  maintaineth  the  law  in  this  strict  tem 
poral  sense  to  be  a  shadow  both  of  future  punish 
ments  to  every  transgression  internal  and  external, 
and  of  future  heavenly  felicity  to  perfect  obedience. 
Secondly,  he  considereth  the  same  law,  as  compre 
hending  in  it  a  remedying  law  as  to  these  temporal 
severities,  or  as  affording  pardon  upon  sacrifice,  for 
the  greatest  number  of  transgressions.  And  so  he 
will  have  it,  that  this  political  and  temporal  law  was 
a  sort  of  little  Gospel  in  reality;  being  a  law  of  par 
don,  as  to  the  temporal  punishment  that  was  therein 
threatened  ;  and  a  shadow  also,  or  pattern  and  re 
presentation  of  its  own  gospel-favour  in  admitting 
the  transgressors  thereof  to  grace  and  pardon,  with 
regard  to  eternal  punishment,  on  the  account  of  the 
great  satisfaction  to  come,  that  was  typified  by  such 
sacrifices.  Thirdly,  he  considereth  it  as  a  law  of 
conscience,  essentially  respecting  the  future  state, 
and  requiring  obedience  to  all  therein  commanded, 
under  the  peril  of  future  death  or  wrath  to  come ; 
for  that  otherwise  there  would  be  no  pardon  or  satis 
faction  by  Christ,  for  the  wrath  to  come,  which  by 
this  law  is  due  to  sin.  And  in  this  strict  sense  he  will 
have  St.  Paul  to  use  the  word  law  in  the  most  of 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  155 

those  places  in  dispute,  and  which  are  insisted  on  by  1675. 
Mr.  Bull  to  reconcile  them  to  St.  James.  And  in 
this  sense  he  saith  the  law  was  no  type  or  shadow, 
nor  to  vanish  away,  but  that  it  standeth  in  force  to 
this  very  day.  Lastly,  he  considereth  it  as  a  law  ofpage.^. 
grace,  revealing  that  the  punishment  made  due  to 
the  transgressor,  by  the  law  in  its  first  and  strict 
sense,  might  yet  be  pardoned;  and  he  should  enjoy, 
notwithstanding  this,  the  promised  life  to  come,  on 
condition  he  did  repent,  and  sincerely  endeavour 
obedience  for  the  future  to  all  God's  laws,  with  the 
whole  bent  of  heart  and  soul.  And  in  this  sense  he 
saith  the  law  was  no  type  or  shadow  at  all,  but  the 
very  Gospel  itself,  and  that  word  of  faith,  which 
the  apostles  preached  :  and  that  in  this  very  sense 
also  David  took  the  law  in  most  of  his  encomiums  of 
it.  Whence  he  concludeth,  that  justification  and 
salvation  are  not  denied  to  it,  or  to  the  works  of  it, 
by  the  apostle,  either  to  Jews  or  Christians  ;  foras 
much  as  it  still  continueth  the  same  for  substance, 
having  the  same  sanction  and  condition,  or  precept 
in  general ;  namely,  that  upon  our  repentance  and 
sincere  obedience,  God  will  justify  and  save  us  from 
all  our  sins.  And  accordingly, 

He  interpreteth   both  the  threatening^  and  pro- His 


mises  of  the   law,   as  having  four    different   si 


fications.     Thus   concerning   that   solemn 

tion,  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in  allol(l  Teff- 

•^  ment  with  a 

things  written  in  the  book  of  the  law,  to  do  $0»,fwirfoH 

u  .  respect. 

he  saith  it  did  notify  these  four  distinct  sanctions, 
with  their  distinct  conditions:  viz.  1.  Every  one 
shall  be  punished  with  a  violent  temporal  death, 
or  such  death  shall  be  due  to  him,  that  observeth 
not  every  external  precept  of  the  law.  2.  Every 


156  THE  LIFE  OF 

16715.  one  shall  be  punished  with  the  aforesaid  death 
without  remedy,  that  offendeth  either  in  the  great 
instances  exempted  from  pardon,  or  in  other  lesser 
faults,  not  observing  the  sacrifices  appointed  for  the 
expiation  of  these.  3.  Future  death,  or  wrath  to 
come,  is  due  to  every  one  that  obeyeth  not  every 
commandment  both  internal  and  external.  And,  4. 
This  future  or  second  death  shall  without  remedy 
befal  every  such  offender  against  the  law,  he  not 
repenting  of  his  sins,  and  sincerely  endeavouring 
obedience  to  every  precept  thereof,  internal  and 
external.  And  to  the  like  extensive  import  he  will 
have  also  the  promise  or  blessing  annexed  to  the  law, 
to  be  interpreted.  Now  he  supposeth  the  not  under 
standing  this  fourfold  distinction  of  the  Mosaical  co 
venant,  and  of  its  cursings  and  blessings,  or  threats 
and  promises,  to  have  led  Mr.  Bull  into  some  mis 
takes,  in  determining  what  St.  Paul  meaneth  by 
works  and  by  the  law ;  and  consequently  in  his  de 
nying  justification  by  the  works  of  the  law. 

His  opin-  And  whereas  Mr.  Bull  is  very  particular  and  full 
in  distinguishing  between  the  Iloreb  covenant  re 
corded  in  the  20th,  21st,  22d,  and  23d  chapters  of 

made  in      Exodus,  and  the  covenant  made  in  the  land  of  Moab, 

the  land 

of  Moab.     recorded  in  the  29th  and  30th  chapters  of  Deuter- 

Har.  Apoxt.  ,        .  .          . .  „. 

cap.  xi.      onomy ;  as  having  quite  different  promises  and  pre 
cepts,  the  one  carnal  and  earthly,  the  other  spiritual 
to'S f°urs  an(*  neavenly  :  Mr.  Truman  on  the  other  side  main- 
p.  53-         taineth,  that  they  are  not  two  but  one  and  the  same 
covenant,   by   many   arguments   which   he    bringeth 
from  history,  and  the  reason  of  fact.     And  whereas 
Mr.  Bull  also,  after  Episcopius,  Dr.  Hammond,  bishop 
Taylor,  and  others  of  great  name,  doth  assert   the 
promises  and  threats  of  the  Mosaic  law  to  be  only 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  157 

and  properly  temporal ;  his  adversary  hath  inserted     1675. 
a  pretty  large  dissertation  concerning  the  spirituality  P.  119.  to 
of  this  law,  and  the  sanction  thereof,   even  by  re-20 
wards  and  punishments  in  another  life,  which  con- 
taineth  some  observations  not  to  be  despised. 

He  granteth  the  law  of  Moses  to  have  no  spiritual  His  senti- 

.  .  .  ments  con- 

commands,  threats,  or  promises,  as  it  was  the  «»«&•«- ceming the 
ment  of  the  Jewish  polity,  but  judgeth  it  cannot  be  th^iiiosaic 
so  meant  in  those  passages  of  St.  Paul  in  debate,  tolaw- 
be  reconciled  to  St.  James,  according  to  the  princi 
ples  he  had  before  laid  down  and  explained.  He 
bringeth  a  great  number  of  passages  out  of  the 
Psalms,  several  of  them  being  cited  and  referred  to 
in  the  New  Testament,  with  a  design  to  shew  that 
it  is  notoriously  contrary  to  the  expressions  of  David 
concerning  the  Judaical  law,  to  deny  that  it  had 
spiritual  commands  together  with  promises  and 
threats,  relating  to  the  world  to  come.  He  confirm- 
eth  this  by  the  encomiums  of  the  law  given  by 
St.  Paul  himself,  calling  it  spiritual  and  himself 
carnal,  expressing  his  delight  therein  after  the 
inward  man,  and  declaring  it  to  be  holy,  just,  and 
yood.  He  urgeth,  that  if  the  promises  and  threat- 
enings  of  the  law  as  such  were  only  carnal  and 
temporal,  then  none  would  have  been  bound  to  true 
piety  by  that  law :  but  on  the  contrary,  the  Jews 
would  have  done  well  in  suffering  themselves  to  be 
bound  to  the  earth  by  the  profits  and  delights  there 
of;  and  in  alienating  their  minds  from  true  piety,  by 
yielding  to  such  an  earthly  and  sordid  temper,  as 
such  a  law  was  apt  in  its  own  nature  to  beget.  He 
insisteth  that  God  would  never  have  been  angry  with 
the  Jews  for  not  being  wrought  upon  to  real  piety 
by  the  law,  if  that  was  so  very  defective.  He  saith 


158  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  farther,  if  by  that  law  no  future  misery  beyond  this 
~  life  was  announced  against  the  transgressor,  there 
would  have  been  no  man  bound  to  suffer  it ;  yea, 
that  Christ  could  not  suffer  any  thing  by  way  of  sa 
tisfaction  as  to  the  curse  of  the  life  to  come ;  nor  any 
one  be  pardoned  his  transgression,  as  to  punishment 
after  this  life,  if  no  such  punishment  was  ever 
threatened  by  it.  He  argueth  that  these  threats  and 
promises  concerning  a  future  life  must  have  been  so 
plain  in  the  law,  as  people  with  the  use  of  ordinary 
means  might  understand  them.  He  asserteth,  with 
out  this  were  so,  they  had  been  excusable  before 
God,  and  would  not  have  been  condemned  for  not 
being  truly  pious.  He  maintaineth  that  this  was 
the  current  opinion  of  the  Jews,  and  that  they  did 
ordinarily  believe  that  the  law  promised  future  life, 
and  threatened  future  misery.  For  the  truth  of 
which  he  appealed  to  all  the  old  Jewish  writers  ex 
tant,  and  particularly  to  the  Talmud  ;  wherein  among 
three  sorts  of  men  that  are  named  to  have  no  por 
tion  in  the  world  to  come,  these  are  esteemed  one 
who  shall  say,  The  resurrection  of  the  dead  is  not 
taught  by  the  law :  and  to  the  ancient  Targums  of 
Onkelos  and  Jonathan,  in  both  of  which  there  is  ex 
press  mention  of  eternal  life.  Moreover  he  urgeth, 
that  the  error  of  the  Sadducees  in  denying  a  future 
life  was  occasioned  by  their  not  understanding  the 
Scriptures,  thereby  meaning  the  Old  Testament,  and 
more  especially  the  books  of  Moses,  or  the  Penta 
teuch  ;  which  could  not  be  said,  if  the  Scriptures 
revealed  no  such  thing,  as  happiness  to  the  obedient, 
and  unhappiness  to  the  disobedient  in  a  future  state. 
Yea,  he  confirmeth  this  by  the  very  argument  of  our 
Lord  himself;  and  bv  his  command  to  search  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  159 

Scriptures,  when  there  were  none  besides  those  of  '675. 
the  Old  Testament,  with  a  view  of  finding  by  them 
eternal  life :  as  likewise  by  the  solemn  appeal  of  St. 
Paul  expressing1  his  faith  of  another  life,  both  for  the 
godly  and  the  wicked,  according  to  what  he  found 
written  in  the  law  as  well  as  in  the  prophets.  And 
here  he  offereth  several  arguments  both  from  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testament,  to  shew  that  the  Jews  had 
promises  in  their  law  of  a  future  blessedness,  if  they 
were  found  obedient  to  it :  also  that  they  had  clearer 
promises  of  a  future  state,  than  the  Gentiles  by  the 
law  of  nature  could  have  :  and  that  all  that  they  had 
more  of  this  hope  of  immortality,  was  to  be  ascribed 
wholly  to  the  covenant  of  promise,  revealed  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  particularly  in  the  book  of  the 
law  itself.  This  he  saith  likewise  was  the  perfect 
law  of  grace  converting  the  soul,  and  giving  life  to 
men  converted ;  by  which  Moses,  Samuel,  and  David, 
being  under  it,  were  justified  and  saved. 

He  commendeth  Mr.  Bull  for  so  interpreting  St. IIis  con?- 

mendation 

Paul,  as  to  shew  that  Abraham  had  no  cause  to  boast  of  Mr.  Bull, 
before  God  of  any  thing  in  the  matter  of  his  justifi- men" with 
cation :  and  that  the  reward  imputed  to  him  could  m^jj""6 
not  be  of  debt,  as  it  useth  to  be  given  to  works,  but  P°ints- 
of  mere  grace.     Nor  hath  he  so  much  as  one  word  Page  216. 
to  say  against  his  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  her  eleventh  Article  ;  but  fully  Page  276. 
agreeth  with  him,  that  by  the  words  of  the  Article 
there   is  not  attributed  any  efficacy  or  dignity  to 
faith,  more  than  to  other  virtues,  in  the  business  of 
justification.     Our  excellent  author  hath  taken  no 
small  pains  in  the  second  part  of  his  Harmony  to 
shelter  himself  from  the  charge  of  heterodoxy,  and 
to  prove  in  particular  the  judgment  of  the  Church  of 


160  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  England,  even  in  that  very  article  that  establisheth 
justification  by  faith  only,  not  to  be  against  him  but 
to  make  for  him  :  and  his  adversary  here  confesseth 
as  much  ;  and  saith  expressly,  /  dislike  not  this  at 
all.  And  indeed  there  are  so  many  things  in  Mr. 
Bull  which  he  disliketh  not,  that  I  know  not  whe 
ther  I  ought  to  call  him  his  adversary  or  his  friend. 


XXXIV.  And  whereas  he  declareth  himself  not 

faction  both 

with  Dr.     at  all  satisfied  with  what  our  author  hath  said  of  the 

Hammond  .  _  .       _  ,      ,.      .  ...  , 

and  Mr.  necessity  or  grace,  and  or  man  s  disability  to  do  any 
their  HO-"*  g°°d  without  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  be- 
tionsof  cause  he  telleth  us  not  explicitly  enough  what  he 

grace.  »  o 

meaneth  by  this  grace,  and  what  the  effect  of  it  is  ; 
yet  he  falleth  most  foul  upon  Dr.  Hammond,  sup 
posing  Mr.  Bull  to  have  the  same  common  notions 
with  him  about  it.  So  that  he  maketh  here  but  an 
indirect  attack  against  Mr.  Bull's  book,  complaining 
that  his  notions  about  this  matter  did  lie  more 
remote  from  vulgar  apprehensions  than  Dr.  Ham 
mond's  ;  Mr.  Bull  speaking  but  little  ex  professo,  to 
declare  what  he  meant  by  grace,  so  that  he  was  not 
easily  or  presently  understood.  He  chargeth  how 
ever  both  him  and  the  doctor  with  a  low  and  mean 
opinion  concerning  grace,  which,  if  practically  held, 
would  be  destructive  to  all  piety,  and  in  particular 
to  the  very  constitution  and  offices  of  the  Church  of 
England.  For  he  is  so  charitable  as  to  grant,  that 
men  may  hold  errors  destructive  of  religion,  notion- 
ally  and  doctrinally,  and  yet  hold  the  contrary  truth 
practically.  And  this  he  freely  alloweth  to  be  the 
case  here.  Now  his  own  opinion  is,  "  that  grace, 
"  whether  actively  taken  for  God's  act,  or  passively 
"  for  the  effect  of  this  act,  doth  not  consist  merely 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  161 

"  in  God's  causing  or  man's  receiving  such  a  power,  1675. 
"  as  without  which  they  that  enjoy  the  Gospel  can-~ 
"  not  be  inexcusable  in  not  obeying  it,  or  cannot  sin 
"  culpably ;  this  being  a  power  that  is  given  univer- 
"  sally  to  all  that  hear  and  enjoy  the  Gospel :  but  in 
*'  God's  giving  and  in  man's  receiving  something 
"  from  God,  which  may  overcome  the  aversation, 
"  that  is  in  man  to  good,  and  thence  cause  him  to 
"  refuse  the  evil  and  choose  the  good,  in  obedience 
"  to  the  Gospel ;  without  which  yet  men  would  not 
"  be  wholly  excusable  from  such  obedience."  For 
he  maintaineth  that  the  power,  without  which  men 
would  be  excusable,  being  properly  in  God  an  effect 
of  justice,  is  not  to  be  accounted  by  us  an  eifect  of 
supernatural  grace,  yea  not  of  grace  or  favour  at 
all.  Since  it  is  no  kindness  or  favour,  but  justice, 
not  to  condemn  a  man  for  not  doing  what  he  hath 
not  the  power  to  do.  And  if  God  require  men, 
saith  he,  it  is  necessary  in  JUSTICE,  that  he  give 
them  so  much  ability  to  choose  the  good  and  refuse 
the  evil,  as  may  make  them  inexcusable  in  not  do 
ing  it.  The  opinion  now  which  he  chargeth  upon 
Dr.  Hammond  and  Mr.  Bull,  as  contrary  both  to  the 
doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Church  of  England,  is 
their  holding  that  the  effect  of  grace  is,  the  giving 
that  internal  power  or  ability,  that  men  could  not 
be  inexcusable  without,  in  not  obeying  the  Gospel: 
or,  that  God's  working  in  us  to  will  and  to  do,  is 
but  giving  us  power  to  will  and  do.  And  he  saith 
that  no  man  can  even  in  the  words  of  the  Common 
Prayer,  seriously  pray  or  praise  God,  for  the  con 
version  and  sanctification  of  himself  or  others,  ad 
hering  to  such  an  opinion  ;  by  which  the  grace  of 
God  is  degraded,  according  to  him,  to  the  very  power  p«ge  244- 

M 


162  THE  LIFE  OF 

i6yr.  or  faculty  of  free-will,  in  actu  secundo.  This  he 
~believeth  himself  to  have  irrefragably  shewn  in  his 
former  discourse  of  natural  and  moral  impotency ; 
and  for  its  contradicting  the  declared  practice  of  our 
church,  he  adviseth  any  that  shall  but  doubt  there 
of,  to  take  the  said  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and 
therein  read  such  prayers,  and  to  see  if  they  can 
think  the  meaning  of  such  prayers  to  be,  that  God 
would  give  them  and  others  that  power  to  obey 
without  which  he  could  not  condemn  them  for  not 
obeying,  (as  is  apparent  of  that  power  without  which 
men  would  be  excusable,)  and  consequently  a  power 
which  whether  they  pray  or  pray  not  for,  God  is  by 
himself  bound  in  justice  to  give  them. 

This  is  indeed  a  most  heavy  charge  against  Mr. 
Bull,  if  it  could  clearly  be  proved  :  but  he  deduceth 
it  only  consequentially  from  his  discourse,  and  it  re- 
flecteth  not  only  upon  him  and  Dr.  Hammond,  but 
upon  as  many  as  go  the  common  remonstrant  way, 
or  that  maintain  the  universality  of  grace.  It  is 
vain  to  protest  never  so  much  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
giveth  us  the  power,  which  all  the  good  we  do  is 
imputable  to ;  or  to  declare  in  this  case,  "  That  the 
"  grace  of  God  in  lapsed  man  is  the  n  one  sole  prin- 
"  ciple  of  spiritual  life,  conversion,  regeneration, 
"  repentance,  faith,  and  every  other  evangelical 
"  virtue ;  and  that  all  that  can  be  justly  attributed 
"  to  our  will  in  any  of  these,  is  the  obeying  the 
"  motions,  and  making  use  of  the  powers  which  are 
"  bestowed  upon  us  by  that  supernatural  principle." 
For  if  the  obeying  the  motions,  and  making  use  of 
the  powers,  which  God  bestoweth  upon  men,  may 

"  Dr.  Hammond's  Pacific  Discourse,  Lond.  1660.  p.  52.  §.  75. 
&c.  Bull,  Harm.  Apost. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  163 

justly  be  attributed  to  our  will,  and  not  to  a  special     |675- 

operation  besides  of  the  Spirit;  God  only  giving  us 

the  power,  and  wholly  leaving  it  to  us  to  make  use 

of  it,  without  doing  any  more  by  his  Spirit  to  cause 

us  to  make  use  of  it ;  Mr.  Truman  here  argueth  that 

all   these  high  words  are  but  an  empty  sound,  and 

that  it  would  be  absurd  for  any  one  hereupon  to  pray 

to  God,  that  he  would  graciously  cause  him  by  his 

Spirit  to  improve  his  talent,  and  make  use  of  the 

power  committed  to  him,  if  God  do  no  more  than 

merely  give  the  talent  or  power,  which  he  doth  unto 

all :  and  if  this  be  the  meaning,  as  he  supposeth  it  to 

be  of  Mr.  Bull,  and  all  the  remonstrant  divines,  God's 

grace  and  kindness  towards  men  is  not  at  all  exalted 

by  any  such   expressions;    and   a  man  is  no  more 

obliged  to  special  thankfulness  and  gratitude  for  the 

work  of  his  conversion,  than  if  it  were  said,  God  by 

his  supernatural  grace  made  us  men,  that  is,  endued 

us  with  understanding  and  wttL     And  he  saith  it  is 

all  one,  whether  one  call  this  power  the  remote  and 

fundamental,  or   the  proximate  power  of  free-will, 

while  there  is  meant  by  it  only  that  power  without 

which  they  that  enjoy  the  privileges  of  the  Gospel 

have  no  sin.     For  if  this  be  the  import  of  all  these 

great    words    concerning    grace,    and    supernatural 

grace,  given  to  all  that  enjoy  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 

that  it  giveth  them  only  this  proximate  power,  by 

which   the   will  being  emancipated  is  at  liberty   to 

obey  the  Gospel,  God  going  no  farther  by  his  Spirit 

with  any  in  order  to  their  conversion  ;  and  that  this 

power,  call  it  what  you  will,  doth  all  in  conversion, 

and  in  causing  the  difference  ;  and  that  therefore  all 

the   good   is   done  by  supernatural  grace  only,  and 

nothinq  is  properly  imputable  to  man  in  the  whole 

M  2 


164  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  work  of  his  conversion :  the  learned  rectifier  con- 
tendeth,  that  all  this  is  really  nothing  ;  that  it  mani 
festly  tendeth  to  confound  supernatural  grace  and 
common  providence  together :  and  to  argue  thus  is 
no  less  illogical,  than  to  say,  Man  doth  all  in  im 
proving  the  Gospel  to  his  own  conversion :  there 
fore  God  doth  all.  To  conclude,  he  highly  com- 
mendeth  that  sober  sentiment  of  the  great  bishop 
Sanderson,  who  confessing  his  own  disability  to  re 
concile  the  consistency  of  grace  and  free-will  in  con 
version,  and  being  sensible  that  they  must  both  be 
maintained,  tells  us,  °  "  He  ever  held  and  still  doth 
"  hold  it  the  more  pious  and  safe  way  to  place  the 
"  grace  of  God  in  the  throne,  where  we  think  it 
"  should  stand,  and  so  to  leave  the  will  of  man  to 
"  shift  for  the  maintenance  of  its  own  freedom,  as 
"  well  as  it  can  ;  than  to  establish  the  power  and 
"  liberty  of  free-will  at  its  height,  and  then  to  be  at 
"  a  loss  how  to  maintain  the  power  and  efficacy  of 
"  God's  grace." 
Some  other  Besides  these,  there  are  some  few  other  objections 

objections         i  •    i     i  n  .  ^  T      T-,     1 1 ,      , 

raised  winch  he  made  against  Mr.  Bull  s  book,  as  particu- 
larty>  that  though  he  gave  indeed  the  true  sense  of 
many  verses  in  the  fourth  chapter  to  the  Romans, 
yet  he  feigneth  the  apostle  to  bring  them  in  too 
desultorily ;  that  he  is  mistaken  in  stating  the  case 
of  Abraham  from  St.  Paul,  making  that  to  be  before, 
which  was  really  after  the  divine  calling,  and  his 
believing  ;  that  upon  his  principles  men  might  after 
their  conversion  live  perfectly,  and  do  as  much  as 
they  are  required  to  do  by  the  word  of  God  ;  and 
that  his  inference  from  the  defended  and  received 

o  See   Dr.  Hammond's    Letter  to    Dr.  Sanderson,    concerning 
God's  Grace,  &c.  §.  90,  9  i . 


s  con 
cessions. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  165 

opinions  amongst  the  Jews,  about  the  nature  of  1675. 
obedience  to  their  law,  is  not  well  supported.  And 
whereas  Mr.  Bull  hath  spent  a  whole  chapter  in 
citing  out  of  some  authors  certain  sayings  of  the 
Jews,  in  defence  of  the  power  of  free-will,  without 
the  assisting  grace  of  the  Spirit,  he  will  have  it  that 
many  of  them  may  be  capable  of  no  ill  construction  : 
and  that  they  possibly  mean  no  more  than  that  men 
have  the  natural  power  of  free-will,  without  which 
they  cannot  be  men,  from  God's  common  providence ; 
and  not  that  the  will  is  not  in  a  moral  sense  insuper 
ably  wicked  without  grace. 

As  to  what  Mr.  Bull  had  written  concerning  the  Some  of 
ritual  and  ceremonial  law,  and  the  works  thereof,  asman 
circumcision,  sacrifices,  and  the  like  ;  or  concerning 
the  Jewish  interpretations  of  the  whole  body  of  the 
Mosaic  law,  containing  under  it  the  moral  law ;  or 
concerning  human  inventions  and  additions  to  it, 
and  the  several  erroneous  opinions  of  many  of  the 
learned  Jews  in  respect  to  it ;  or  concerning  the 
most  pernicious  solifidianism  of  the  Gnostic  heretics ; 
or,  lastly,  concerning  the  several  contrary  errors  and 
mistakes  of  some  Christian  sects,  which  are  with 
great  judgment  considered  by  him  in  his  Epilogue ; 
Mr.  Truman,  with  all  his  metaphysical  subtlety, 
could  find  nothing  herein  to  condemn :  yea,  he 
expressly  commendeth  him  for  having  shewn  out 
of  the  Jewish  writers,  that  it  was  a  vulgar  error 
among  them,  to  imagine  that  they  perfectly  fulfilled 
God's  law,  and  did  all  that  was  required  by  it,  though 
they  did  but  some  few  externals  only ;  as  thinking 
that  those  commandments  which  require  the  obe 
dience  of  the  heart  or  internal  righteousness  and 
holiness,  were  only  matter  of  counsel,  and  not  strictly 


16«  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.    of  precept ;  and  instead  of  bringing  up  their  lives  to 


the  law,  maintaining  such  opinions  as  brought  the 
law  down  to  their  lives. 
The  result       Upon  the  whole,  he  thinketh  it  improbable  that 

of  tht; 

whole  every  chapter  of  both  dissertations  of  Mr.  Bull 
should  be  revised  and  approved  by  so  able  a  divine 
as  Dr.  Nicholson,  bishop  of  Gloucester :  and  sus- 
pecteth,  that  he  had  great  temptations  to  pretend 
his  approbation  of  the  whole  and  every  part  of  it, 
to  gain  repute  to  his  opinion,  by  the  great  name  of  so 

Page  26-1.  reverend  a  prelate  and  so  learned  a  writer.  And  con 
cluding,  that  he  had  said  enough  to  shew  the  danger 
and  inconsistency  of  some  prevailing  opinions  con 
cerning  the  nature  of  grace  and  the  Mosaic  dispen 
sation  ;  he  insinuateth  nevertheless,  that  he  might 
probably  write  more  hereupon,  if  urged  to  it ;  and 
did  accordingly  begin  soon  after  a  treatise  upon  the 
covenant  of  grace,  which  he  lived  not  to  finish  :  for 
saith  he,  My  great  aversation  to  such  principles 
(common  to  Dr.  Hammond  and  Mr.  Bull)  will  much 
incline  me  upon  an  easy  call  to  oppose  the  prevalence/ 
of  them  ;  till  I  shall  see  some  Jitter  man  of  our  own 
church  and  language,  where  they  prevail,  (as  I  doubt 
not  but  that  there  are  many,  whose  abilities  and  circum 
stances  make  them  far  more  fit,}  willing  to  undertake 
it,  and  save  the  labour  of  my  iveak  endeavours.  From 
which  it  appeareth,  that  Mr.  Truman  was  very  far 
from  the  sentiments  of  the  rigid  dissenters ;  and 
that  he  did  not  totally  leave  our  church  upon  the 
Act  of  Uniformity  i  but  did  consider  himself  still  as 
a  Church  of  England  man,  some  lesser  matters  only 
excepted. 

XXXV.  Mr.  Bull,  not  long  after,  wrote  an  answer 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  167 

in  English  to  Mr.  Truman,  which  yet  was  never  1675. 
published  v,  wherein  we  are  told  his  hypothesis  was  Mr.  Bull 
fully  examined,  and  all  his  objections  replied  to;  not guTi" ™ 
without  the  consentient  testimony  of  all  the  catholic  Engllshi 
doctors  of  the  church,  both  before  and  after  the  rise 
of  Pelagius,  and  of  the  ancient  Jewish  rabbins. 
For  out  of  a  fear  that  offence  might  be  given  to  the 
common  people,  by  handling  certain  abstruse  and 
profound  questions,  to  the  treating  yet  of  which  he 
was  necessitated  by  the  exceeding  great  subtleties  of 
this  writer  ;  he  was  willing  that  what  he  had  thus 
written  should  not  come  abroad,  but  only  be  com 
municated  to  a  few  friends,  whose  testimony  he 
appealed  to  herein.  In  this  answer  to  Mr.  Truman 
he  set  himself  to  overturn  his  fundamental  dis 
tinction  of  natural  and  moral  impotence,,  and  to 
shew  the  many  absurd  consequences  flowing  from 
such  a  position,  and  how  that  at  the  bottom  it  was 
neither  more  nor  less  than  downright  Pelagianism. 
In  it  he  endeavoured  to  prove,  that  the  law  of  nature, 
as  considered  in  itself,  or  the  moral  law,  prescribeth 
not  a  most  perfect  and  absolute  righteousness,  but  is 
contented  with  that  which  is  much  inferior  to  that 
which  is  required  by  the  Gospel  :  and  moreover, 
that  eternal  life  was  not  due  at  all  to  the  observation 
of  that  law.  Also  he  maintaineth.  that  man,  even 
in  the  state  of  innocence,  had  not  a  natural  power  or 
ability  of  obtaining  by  the  perfect  obedience  of  the 
law  an  heavenly  immortality ;  and  that  besides  the 
perfection  and  integrity  of  nature  wherein  he  was 
made,  he  was  likewise  endowed  with  the  divine 
Spirit,  as  with  a  principle  of  the  divine  nature;  by 
which  his  natural  faculties,  otherwise  insufficient, 
P  Appendix  ad  Exam.  Cen.  Animad.  17.  §.  6. 


10*8  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.    were  improved  and  exalted  to  the  attainment  of  the 
~  superior  paradise,  whereof  the  inferior  was  a  type. 
This  he  saith  is  abundantly  made  out  in  his  English 
papers  against  Mr.  Truman,  though  not  in  a  style  so 
very  fit  for  vulgar  readers  :  and  having  represented 
the  strangeness  and  inconsistency  of  his  hypothesis, 
which  he  saith  was  borrowed  from  Amyraldus'i,  he 
sheweth  how  from  one  absurdity  a  multitude  of  other 
absurdities  cannot  but  flow  ;  how  upon  his  princi 
ples  it  is  possible  for  every  man,  if  he  hath  but  his 
natural  faculties  sound,  perfectly  to  fulfil  the  law  of 
God,  when  sufficiently  made  known  to  him,  without 
the  assistance  of  any  inward  grace  ;  how  it  is  natu 
rally  possible,  but  at  the  same  time  morally  impos 
sible  :  how  God  may  lawfully  require  of  fallen  man 
most  perfect  obedience,  without  either  giving  him 
or  being  ready  to  give  him  any  grace,  by  which  that 
obedience  may  be  wrought ;  how  the  law  of  nature 
to  those  that  shall  keep  it,  can  give  life  everlasting ; 
how  the  evangelical  law  doth  not  convey  together 
with  it  grace  and  power,  to  perform  the  obedience 
which  it  requireth ;  and  that  this  grace  is  only  given 
according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  God,  to  some  few 
thereunto  ordained ;  but  that  all  the  rest  are  justly 
damned,    because    they    might    have    lived    well    if 
they  would,  but  that  they  had  not  power  to  will  it. 
This  by  those  hints  which   he  himself  hath  given 
of  it,  seemeth  to  have  been  the  substance  of  what 
was   written    by   him    in    English    on    occasion    of 
Mr. Truman's  two  mentioned  books,  his  Discourse  of 


(l  [Moyse  Amyrault,  a  Calvinist,  of  Saumur  in  the  seventeenth 
century :  he  published  several  works  upon  grace,  and  a  paraphrase 
on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  169 

natural  and  moral  Impotency,  and  his  Endeavours  to     « 675. 
rectify  some  prevailing  Opinions.  • 

But   Mr.  Bull  being  engaged,  as  he  thought,  to  But  not 
vindicate  himself  against  Mr.  Charles  Gataker's  Anini-  SjtJTSwt, 
adversions  upon  his  Harmony,  thought  it  also  con-  J"^™  in 
venient  to  answer  Mr.  Truman  in  Latin ;  as  to  the Latil1- 
principal    objections   made   against    him,   Dr.  Ham 
mond,  and  bishop  Taylor,  thereby  to  render  his  re 
ply  more  full  and  complete.    And  this  he  hath  done, 
both   in    his  Appendix   to  the  Examination  of  the 
17th  Animadversion,  and  in  his  answers  to  the  19th, 
21st,  and  22d  Animadversions  of  Gataker,  relating 
to  the   twofold   defect  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation. 
Where  he  learnedly  and  strenuously  defendeth  what 
he  had  advanced  in  his  former  book,  concerning  the 
grounds  of  the  impossibility  of  justification  by  the 
law,  for  which  he  is  so  severely  handled  by  Gataker. 
Truman,  and  others ;   and  laboureth  to   prove  that 
the  opinion  of  his  adversaries  therein  is  strictly  and 
properly  Pelagian ;    and   that  his  only   is  the   true 
catholic  doctrine,  supported  by  the  authority  of  St. 
Augustin  and  other  orthodox  Fathers. 

He  is  very  large  in  discussing  the  question,  whe-  The  sub- 
ther  there  was  any  law  or  covenant,  distinct  from 
the  Gospel,  requiring  perfect  righteousness  of  fallen 
man,  with  the  promise  of  eternal  life  if  he  did  per 
form  it,  and  under  the  penalty  of  eternal  damnation 
if  he  did  not.  And  having  explained  the  state  of 
the  question,  he  proceedeth,  and  defendeth  the  true 
catholic  opinion  thereupon  in  the  following  theses. 
1.  The  covenant  of  life  made  with  Adam  in  his 
state  of  innocence,  was  by  his  transgression  of  the 
same,  made  void,  not  only  for  himself,  but  for  his 
posterity  also  ;  so  that  now  all  the  children  of  Adam, 


170  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  as  such,  are  the  children  of  death,  that  is,  are  ex- 
~  eluded  wholly  from  all  promise  of  immortal  life,  and 
are  subjected  to  the  necessity  of  death,  without  any 
hopes  of  a  resurrection.  2.  All  those  of  the  posterity 
of  fallen  Adam,  who  are  altogether  destitute  of 
divine  revelation,  and  to  whom  the  new  covenant  of 
life  hath  not  yet  been  manifest,  are  under  the  obli 
gation  of  no  law  but  that  of  nature.  3.  The  law 
of  nature,  (which  is  the  dictate  of  reason,)  so  far  as 
it  is  considered  in  fallen  man,  as  destitute  of  the 
Spirit,  and  of  divine  revelation,  doth  not  prescribe 
the  most  perfect  and  absolute  virtue,  nor  is  an  im 
mortal  and  heavenly  life  due  to  the  observation  of 
this  law.  4.  God  never  entered  into  any  covenant 
of  eternal  life  with  the  posterity  of  fallen  Adam,  but 
what  was  confirmed  and  established  in  our  Saviour 
Christ ;  and  must  consequently  have  been  the  very 
Gospel  itself,  according  to  that  of  the  apostle,  The 
gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.  5.  The  Gospel,  or  the  law  of  Christ, 
though  it  prescribe  a  religion  that  is  most  excellent 
and  perfect,  especially  as  it  is  most  fully  revealed  in 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  doth  not  com 
mand  any  thing  to  man  in  his  fallen  state,  but  that 
which  is  possible  to  be  fulfilled  by  the  grace  which 
it  promiseth.  6.  Though  according  to  the  Gospel, 
or  law  of  Christ,  all  those  degrees  of  righteousness, 
which  are  possible  for  us  by  the  grace  of  the  same 
Gospel  to  be  performed,  are  binding  to  us  ;  yet  they 
are  not  all  binding  strictly  and  precisely  under  the 
penalty  of  everlasting  damnation.  Forasmuch  as 
the  evangelical  law  doth  not  for  every  default  what 
soever,  yea,  though  by  grace  it  could  have  been 
avoided,  denounce  against  man  exclusion  from  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  171 

kingdom  of  heaven,  and  much  less  doth  it  threaten  1675. 
hell  torments  for  this ;  but  only  for  such  sins  as  are 
repugnant  to  the  very  end  of  the  law,  the  love  of 
God  above  all  things,  and  do  more  immediately  re 
sist  the  divine  loving-kindness.  7.  The  extraordi 
nary  indulgence  of  the  Gospel  doth  herein  eminently 
shine  forth,  that  it  promiseth  forgiveness  of  all,  even 
of  the  most  grievous  sins,  committed  either  before 
or  after  the  grace  of  it  shall  be  received,  upon  con 
dition  of  repentance:  but  then  this  repentance,  so 
far  as  it  relateth  to  the  more  grievous  sins,  which 
are  called  deadly,  must  be  most  exact  and  perfectly 
practical.  These  are  the  seven  pillars  upon  which 
his  whole  superstructure,  concerning  the  difference 
of  the  first  and  second  covenant,  and  his  comparison 
of  the  Law  and  the  Gospel  doth  subsist.  And  he 
concludeth  against  Mr.  Truman,  that  if  the  covenant 
of  life  made  with  Adam  was  annulled  by  his  sin, 
both  for  himself  and  his  posterity ;  if  the  posterity  of 
Adam,  to  whom  the  new  covenant  of  life  hath  not 
been  revealed,  are  only  bound  to  the  observance  of 
the  moral  and  natural  law,  which  cannot  of  itself 
give  eternal  life;  and  if  there  be  no  other  new  cove 
nant  of  life  entered  into  by  God  with  fallen  mankind, 
then  certainly  there  is  no  covenant  or  law,  prior  to 
the  Gospel,  and  distinguished  from  it,  which  doth 
require  of  lapsed  man  the  most  absolute  obedience, 
and  most  perfect  virtue,  with  regard  to  eternal  re 
wards  and  punishments  in  another  life.  Also  against 
him  he  disputeth  both  from  the  Scriptures  and  Fa 
thers,  that  the  Gospel  is  a  ministration  of  spirit, 
so  that  the  Spirit  of  Christ  must  be  individually  con 
joined  with  his  law,  that  commanding  nothing  which 
his  grace  is  not  sufficient  to  perform.  And  he  dis- 


172  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  putetli  against  him,  that  it  was  not  only  the  common 
"opinion  of  all  the  catholic  doctors  who  lived  before 
Pelagius,  that  a  man  might  by  the  grace  of  Christ 
fulfil  all  his  commandments :  but  that  it  was  the 
very  sentiment  also  of  the  greatest  enemies  of  the 
Pelagian  heresy,  and  most  eminent  writers  against 
it,  as  particularly  of  St.  Augustin,  and  St.  Hierom, 
with  our  venerable  Bede. 

An  hypo-        XXXVI.  The  hypothesis  of  Mr.  Truman,  as  esta- 

thesis  of  •* 

Mr.Tru-     blished  in  both  his  discourses,  being  this ;    "  That 

man's  ex-  .    _.       _       ,  .  .         .,,         .          , 

amined.  "  the  reasoning  or  St.  Paul  against  justification  by 
"  the  Mosaical  law,  supposes  that  law  to  require 
"  an  impossible  condition  of  justification,  or  such  an 
"  absolute  righteousness  as  no  man  through  his  moral 
"  impotence  can  ever  discharge  ;"  our  author  eridea- 
voureth  to  demonstrate,  that  the  reasonings  of  that 
apostle  in  his  Epistles,  both  to  the  Romans  and  the 
Galatians,  go  upon  quite  another  foundation ;  and 
that  they  suppose  that  in  the  Mosaical  law,  as  under 
stood  according  to  the  letter,  there  was  no  true  jus 
tification  at  all,  or  remission  of  sins  reaching  beyond 
this  life,  ever  set  forth.  And  truly  if  this  be  not 
demonstrated  by  those  many  arguments  and  testi 
monies  which  he  hath  brought  ;  it  must  at  least  be 
confessed,  that  so  much  is  here  said  against  the  con 
trary  opinion,  as  to  render  it  very  highly  improbable. 
And  as  for  his  objection  of  the  spirituality  of  the 
law,  about  which  he  hath  said  indeed  so  many  fine 
tilings,  Mr.  Bull  here  distinguished,  and  saith  it 
was  generally  the  opinion  of  the  ancients,  that  the 
word  law  is  taken  in  Scripture  in  several  senses  ; 
that  in  St.  Paul's  Epistles  it  is  taken,  either  accord 
ing  to  the  letter,  or  else  according  to  the  spirit : 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  173 

and  that  this  last  is  no  other  than  the  very  Gospel  1675. 
itself,  as  being  hid  under  ancient  figures,  and  covered 
over  with  the  veil  of  ceremonies,  first  explained  by 
Moses  himself,  as  well  as  the  time  could  then  bear, 
next  by  the  succeeding  prophets  more  clearly  mani 
fested,  and  last  of  all,  by  Christ  and  his  apostles 
most  fully  revealed  as  the  sun  at  noon-day:  that 
those  encomiums  which  are  attributed  to  the  law,  of 
being  spiritual,  holy,  &c.,  are  properly  applicable  to 
it,  as  taken  according  to  the  spirit,  or  for  the  Gospel 
itself:  that  whensoever  St.  Paul  detracteth  from 
the  law,  or  denieth  justification  to  be  by  the  works 
of  it,  he  then  always  understandeth  it  as  taken  ac 
cording  to  the  letter.  And,  lastly,  that  the  apostle 
doth  very  fitly  take  the  law  either  in  one  sense  or  in 
the  other,  either  spiritually  or  carnally,  according 
to  the  differing  sentiments  of  those  to  whom  he 
wrote  his  Epistles.  And  whereas  Mr.  Truman  had  Page  132, 

&c 

objected  against  Mr.  Bull,  that  his  degrading  the 
laws  of  Mount  Sinai  so  low  as  he  had  done,  was  in 
effect  a  reflection  upon  God  himself,  the  author  of 
it ;  and  that  he  had  misinterpreted  St.  Paul,  by 
making  him  say,  That  the  law  did  not  promise  such 
things,  as  that  a  man  had  need  of  faith,  which  is  the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen,  to  believe  them ;  but 
promised  only  things  of  sense,  not  of  faith  :  and  also 
by  supposing  the  apostle's  meaning,  Gal.  iii.  21,  to 
be,  that  the  fault  was  in  the  law,  not  in  the  men  ; 
because  if  the  law  promised  it,  men  would  have  at 
tained  life  by  that  law:  and  so  making  an  excuse 
thereby  for  the  carnal  and  servile  genius  of  the  gene 
rality  of  the  Jews,  as  suited  to  their  law ;  if  the  law 
of  Mount  Sinai  was  indeed  such  a  dispensation  of 
servitude,  and  fit  to  beget  in  men  a  mean  and  servile 


174  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  disposition  of  mind :  Mr.  Bull  answereth,  that  it 
~  would  be  very  unjust  to  charge  God  herewith,  see 
ing  that  by  his  wise  and  gracious  providence,  suffi 
cient  care  was  taken  that  the  Jewrs  might  not  stick 
in  the  letter  of  the  Mount  Sinai  law,  but  might  look 
beyond  it.  For  he  sheweth  how  God  provided  that 
the  tradition  of  life  to  come,  derived  down  by  the 
patriarchs,  either  immediately  from  himself  or  other 
wise,  might  be  kept  up  under  the  law,  and  be  both 
expounded  and  confirmed  by  the  sermons  of  the 
prophets,  whom  he  raised  up  in  their  several  ages 
for  instruction  and  conduct  to  his  people.  He  saith, 
the  patriarchal  tradition  is  clear,  both  by  the  pro 
phecy  and  example  of  Enoch  ;  and  that  the  sub 
sistence  of  the  soul,  after  the  death  of  the  body,  was 
hence  believed  by  the  most  ancient  Jews  who  lived 
after  the  delivery  of  the  law  by  Moses.  And  this  he 
especially  gathereth  and  confirmeth,  from  the  -history 
of  king  Saul  consulting  the  pythoness  of  Endor,  and 
seeking  of  her,  that  he  might  have  some  discourse 
with  Samuel  that  was  then  dead ;  which  he  would 
never  certainly  have  done,  had  he  not  believed  the 
soul  of  the  deceased  prophet  to  survive.  He  argueth 
also  to  the  same  effect  from  the  original  of  necro 
mancy,  the  most  ancient  of  all  divinations,  founded 
upon  this  separate  subsistence  of  the  soul ;  from  the 
yospel  of  Moses,  or  his  sermon  in  the  plains  of  Moab, 
wherein  he  calleth  the  Israelites  off  from  the  outward 
ceremonies  of  the  law  which  he  had  taught  them,  to 
inward  godliness;  and  from  the  circumcision  of  the 
flesh  to  the  circumcision  of  the  heart :  and  expressly 
admonisheth  them,  that  the  whole  business  of  their 
salvation  did  turn  upon  this  one  precept  of  loving 
God  with  all  their  heart :  and  from  the  prophetical 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  175 

testimony,  more  especially  instancing  in  such  pas-  1675. 
sages  of  r  Samuel  and  David,  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  of" 
Hosea  and  Micah  as  are  herein  most  clear  and 
express.  Whence  he  concludeth,  that  the  Jews,  who 
in  St.  Paul's  time  stuck  to  the  bare  letter  of  the 
Mount  Sinai  law ;  whether  they  were  Pharisees, 
who  acknowledged  indeed  a  mystery  in  the  letter  of 
the  promise,  but  could  not  see  beyond  the  letter  of 
the  precept ;  or  whether  they  were  Sadducees,  who 
understood  both  the  promises  and  precepts  of  the 
Mosaical  law,  according  to  the  letter  only  ;  were 
without  excuse.  So  that  after  all,  the  difference 
betwixt  Mr.  Truman  and  Mr.  Bull  will  be  found 
very  inconsiderable. 

This  Mr.  Truman  was  indeed  a  person  of  a  deep  Thecharac- 
and  searching  genius,  but  perhaps  too  metaphysical :  rectifier. 
candid  in  fully  representing  the  argument  of  his  ad 
versary  without  disguise,  and  commending  whatever 
he  thought  worthy  of  commendation ;  but  severe 
also  in  his  animadversions,  where  he  believed  he 
wanted  not  sufficient  grounds  for  so  doing  :  generous 
very  often  in  his  manner  of  treating  those  he  dis 
sented  from  ;  but  sometimes  yet  unreasonably  suspi 
cious  and  scrupulous :  cool  and  moderate  in  the 
management  of  his  cause,  with  very  little  appearance 
of  passion  and  prejudice  ;  but  vigorous  yet  and  zeal 
ous  for  the  rectifying  of  some  certain  opinions, 

«/ 1-/      «y 

which  he  took  to  be  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  of  England,  for  which  he  still  continued  to 
profess  an  esteem.  This  made  him  respected  by 
several  eminent  divines  of  our  church  ;  and  even  by 

r  i  Sam.  xv.  22.  Psalm  1.  i — 17.  and  li.  16,  17.  Isai.  i.  10 — 21. 
Jerem.  vii.  21,  22,  23.    Hosea  vi.  6.    Mic.  vi.  6,  7,  8. 


176  THE  LIFE  OF 

1^75.  such  also  of  them,  who  did  not  agree  with  him  in 
his  darling  notions.  His  knowledge  was  not  con 
fined  to  his  own  profession,  for  he  had  a  good  share 
of  skill,  not  only  in  the  statute  and  common  law, 
but  also  in  the  civil:  he  was  a  good  critic  in  the 
learned  tongues,  particularly  in  the  Greek,  where 
by  the  great  strength  of  his  memory  his  head  would 
supply  the  place  of  a  lexicon  ;  and  though  he  was 
ejected  for  nonconformity,  yet  during  his  recess 
from  his  public  station,  he  commonly  attended  the 
worship  of  God  in  public. 

Bishop  \i-      XXXVII.  While  Mr.  Bull   was    busied    in   this 

cholson, 

Mr.  Bull's  controversy  with  Mr.  Gataker  and  Mr.  Truman, 
dies  This  and  was  designing  to  have  a  fair  copy  transcribed, 
character.  ^  jogj.  j^  ^er^  gOO(j  friencj  an(j  patron  the  bishop, 


who  had  hitherto  directed  and  assisted  him.  For 
the  good  prelate  having  at  heart  the  good  of  the 
church  and  the  honour  of  his  clergy,  and  being  a 
great  encourager  of  learning  and  learned  men,  with 
in  his  sphere  and  district  at  least,  had  a  great  satis 
faction  in  Mr.  Bull,  and  failed  not  upon  all  proper 
occasions  to  express  his  esteem  for  him  :  and  on  the 
other  side,  Mr.  Bull  took  no  small  pleasure,  as  in 
seeing  himself  so  favoured  and  honoured  by  his  dio 
cesan,  so  also  in  making  all  suitable  returns  of  duty 
and  gratitude  on  his  part.  He  was  always  a  singu 
lar  admirer  of  that  condescension  and  familiarity,  of 
that  truly  paternal  care  which  he  found  in  this  good 
bishop,  who  by  his  learned  writings  had  defended 
and  maintained  the  Church  of  England  against  her 
adversaries,  when  she  was  under  a  cloud  ;  and  after 
that  she  had  rid  out  the  storm,  did  not  omit  to  do 
all  that  became  an  excellent  prelate,  for  supporting 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  177 

the  catholic  faith  and  discipline  professed  in  her  1675. 
communion,  both  by  himself  and  by  others.  He  died 
at  Gloucester,  having  sat  in  that  chair  above  eleven 
years,  in  the  82d  of  his  age,  upon  the  5th  of  Fe 
bruary  167J,  with  the  reputation  of  a  truly  primi 
tive  bishop.  His  works  shew  him  to  have  been  a 
person  of  great  learning,  piety,  and  prudence,  parti 
cularly  his  Apoloc/y  for  the  Discipline  of  the  an 
cient  Church,  printed  the  year  before  the  Restora 
tion  ;  and  his  Exposition  of  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
the  year  succeeding  it ;  with  his  Exposition  of  the 
Church  Catechism,  that  hath  had  many  editions. 
And  as  he  was  not  only  for  his  knowledge  of  the 
Fathers  and  Schoolmen  consulted  by  Mr.  Bull,  but 
also  for  the  great  share  of  critical  learning  whereof  he 
was  master :  so  his  singular  affability,  modesty,  and 
candour,  made  his  loss  in  an  especial  manner  to  be 
regretted  by  him. 

A  worthy  gentleman,   Owen   Brigstock,   esq.   of  Bishop  NU 
Carmarthenshire,   grandson   to    bishop    Nicholson's  epitaph/ 
lady,  out  of  respect  to  his  lordship's  memory,  did,  B^H  by  Ai 
at   his  own  charge,   erect  a  very  handsome  monu 
ment,  in  a  chapel  of  the  cathedral  church  of  Glou 
cester,  in  order  to  perpetuate  it.     The  care  of  the 
inscription  was  left  to  Mr.  Bull,  whereby  he  had  an 
opportunity  to  draw  his  patron's  character  in  short ; 
and  because  it  is   at    the   same   time  a  proof  how 
capable  Mr.  Bull  was  even  of  such  a  performance, 
the  reader,  I  believe,  will  not  think  it  improper  to 
be  recorded  in  his  Life,  and  is  as  followeth  ; 

^Eternitati  S. 

In  spe  beatse  resurrectionis, 
Hie  reverendas  exuvias  deposuit 

Theologus  insignis, 

Episcopus  vere  primitivus 

N 


178  THE  LIFE  OF 

i  fat.  Gulielmus  Nicholson, 

In  agro  Suffolciano  natus, 

Apud  Magdalenenses  educatus, 

Ob  fidem  regi  et  ecclesise  afflictae  prsestitam, 

Ad  sedem  Glocestrensem  merito  promotus, 

Anno  MDCLX. 
In  concionibus  frequens, 

In  scriptis  nervosus, 

Legenda  scribens,  et  faciens  scribenda. 

Gravitas  Episcopalis  in  fronte  emicuit ; 

Pauperibus  quotidiana  charitate  beneficus, 

Comitate  erga  clerum  et  literatos  admirandus. 

Gloriae  ac  dierum  satur, 
In  palatio  suo  ut  vixit  pie  decessit 
Febru.  5°.  anno  setatis  LXXXII. 

Dom.  MDCLXXI. 

Elizabetha  conjux  prseivit,  in  hoc  sacello 

Sepulta  Ap.  XX.  An.  Dom.  MDCLXIII. 

Owenus  Brigstock  de  Lechdenny 

In  comitatu  Caermarthen  Armiger, 

Prsedictse  Elizabeth*  Nepos 

Hoc  grati  animi  monumentum 

(Executore  recusante) 
Propriis  sumptibus  erexit,  An.  MDCLXXIX. 

[There  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  the  following 
epitaph  in  the  church  of  Suddington  St.  Mary  was 
also  written  by  Bull : 

Hie  juxta  repositum  jacet  quod  mortale  erat 

Richardi  Bridges  generosi, 

Juvenis  ingenio  formaque  prsecellentis, 

Qui  ante  quadriennium  in  matrimonio  exactum 

Amissa  incomparabili  conjuge 
Filia  unica  Geo.  Hanger  de  Driffeild  Arm. 

(Qua  mortua  vix  ipsi  vita  fuit  mortalis,) 

Dein  post  menses  aliquot  variolarum  morbo  correptus 

(Amicis  et  quotquot  ipsum  norunt  moerentibus) 

Hac  vita  excessit  V.  Kal.  Feb.  MDCLXXVI. 

Heu  spes  mundi  fallaces. 

Tu  superne  quserito.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  179 

Upon  the  death  of  this  excellent  bishop,  we  are     1675. 


™e0£atho~ 


told  by  Mr.  Bull  himself,  that  he  laid  perfectly  aside  HOW  a  stop 
the  papers  which  he  had  drawn  up  in  defence  of  his 
ffarmonia,  against  the  strictures  of  the  younger 
Gataker,  with  a  design  they  should  have  been  com-  [£ 
municated  to  his  lordship,  had  he  lived  longer,  andtrines- 
so  have  been  submitted  wholly  to  his  censure  and 
disposal.  But  as  the  bishop  did  not  much  insist  to 
have  Mr.  Bull's  answer,  when  he  had  considered 
Mr.  Gataker's  Animadversions,  and  found  so  little 
matter  in  them  deserving  one  :  and  as  Mr.  Bull, 
when  he  had  finished  his  answer,  which  was  in  a 
few  months  after  he  had  received  it,  began  to  grow 
more  cool  and  indifferent,  the  warmth  of  his  spirits 
being  now  a  little  evaporated  ;  and  did  not  care,  as 
he  confessed,  to  take  the  pains  of  reviewing  and 
transcribing  it  for  the  bishop's  perusal  and  examina 
tion  :  the  said  answer  was  dropped  for  the  present, 
and,  the  bishop  dying  in  the  mean  time,  was  here 
upon  condemned  to  lie  buried  in  his  study,  among 
his  neglected  papers,  having  no  farther  thoughts  of 
letting  them  see  the  light,  since  he  was  now  dead 
whom  he  entirely  depended  upon  for  his  fatherly 
direction  in  this  matter  ;  and  by  whose  advice  and 
assistance  his  former  book  had  been  published  to 
the  world,  which  gave  occasion  for  this.  Whereof 
there  is  this  account,  that  presently  upon  his  receiv 
ing  his  own  book  from  the  bishop's  hand,  with  those 
animadversions  interspersed,  he  set  himself  with  all 
his  might  to  expose  the  weakness  of  them,  and 
more  fully  vindicate  the  catholic  truths,  which  he 
had  before  so  publicly  maintained  in  his  first  book, 
against  all  that  is  commonly  brought  for  the  support 

N  2 


180  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  of  modern  notions  contrary  to  them.  s  And  he  ac- 
"quainteth  us,  that  his  papers  against  Mr.  Gataker 
were  written  only  at  his  leisure  hours,  in  the  midst 
of  much  other  business  continually  interrupting  him, 
and  with  so  much  haste,  that  they  were  not  to  be 
read  by  any  body  besides  himself,  and  hardly  by 
himself  neither,  except  with  the  help  of  his  memory. 
The  reason  for  his  so  hastily  setting  about  this  reply, 
was,  besides  that  most  terrible  complaint  presented 
against  him,  by  his  most  passionate  and  unfair  cen- 
surer,  who  was  in  hopes  of  getting  his  book  con 
demned,  and  the  author  silenced,  and  thought,  no 
doubt,  he  should  hereby  do  God  good  service,  a 
dissatisfaction  in  some,  that  were  otherwise  hearty 
well-wishers  both  to  the  church  and  him,  who  were 
yet  of  the  opinion,  that  he  had  written  somewhat 
too  freely  in  some  parts  of  his  Harmony.  And 
though  these  Animadversions  were  not  indeed  print 
ed,  yet  having  been  addressed  in  a  solemn  manner 
to  the  governors  of  the  church,  and  strenuously 
also  insisted  upon  in  letters  to  several  of  them,  as  a 
matter  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the  church  ; 
and  great  means  being  also  used  to  hinder  his  pre 
ferment  by  some  very  eminent  men  ;  he  thought  his 
silence  might  be  interpreted  by  some  as  a  tacit  ac 
knowledgment  of  his  guilt,  and  that  even  his  delay 
might  be  misconstrued  also,  and  give  an  advantage 
to  his  adversary.  Upon  this,  he  concluded  not  to 
wait  for  a  set  answer  to  his  book,  as  some  would 
have  had  him,  but  immediately  fell  upon  his  anim- 
adverter,  and  meeting  by  the  way  with  an  endea 
vour  of  a  more  moderate  adversary,  could  not  alto- 
*  Prsef.  ad  Examen  Censurse 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  181 

gether  pass  him  by.  But  the  bishop's  death  inter-  l675- 
vening,  as  was  said,  put  a  stop  to  what  he  had  de 
signed,  so  that  he  had  no  farther  thoughts  about  it, 
till  the  matter  was  revived  afresh  by  a  book  of  the 
learned  Dr.  Tully,  levelled  directly  at  him,  of  which 
there  will  be  occasion  to  speak  more  hereafter. 

About  the  same  time  Dr.  Barlow,  then  Margaret How  Publlc 
Professor  at  Oxford,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Lin- were  read 
coin,  in  some  of  his  lectures  before  that  learned 
body,  is  said  to  have  treated  Mr.  Bull  very  roughly, 
even  so  far  as  to  give  him  opprobrious  names;  an 
account  of  which  was  sent  him  by  his  learned  and 
pious  friend,  Mr.  Thomas,  at  that  time  chaplain  of 
Christ  Church,  and  resident  in  that  university,  who 
was  then  present,  and  took  notes  of  all  that  related 
to  his  friend  in  those  lectures.  This  treatment 
brought  Mr.  Bull  to  Oxford,  who  with  Mr.  Tho 
mas  waited  upon  the  professor,  told  him  with  what 
inhumanity  he  had  been  treated  by  him,  and  offered 
to  clear  himself  from  those  imputations  by  a  public 
disputation ;  but  this  would  not  be  accepted  of.  Mr. 
Bull  and  his  friend  thought  it  very  hard  to  have 
lectures  read  against  him  in  the  university  by  so 
great  a  man,  as  if  he  were  not  only  to  be  held  for 
an  heretic  by  the  church,  but  even  for  an  heresiarch 
too ;  and  not  to  have  liberty  after  all  granted  him 
to  purge  himself  from  such  a  public  charge  of  heresy, 
in  the  ordinary  way  of  disputation,  and  before  the 
same  auditory  to  whom  he,  for  the  sake  of  his  book, 
had  been  thus  represented  in  such  gross  colours; 
they  could  not  believe  such  a  proceeding  was  by 
any  means  equal  or  justifiable  in  the  professor.  A 
disputation  was  all  that  Mr.  Bull  desired  for  him 
self;  but  was  prudently  enough  declined  by  this 


182  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675-  doctor  of  the  chair,  not  knowing  what  might  have 
been  the  consequences  thereof.  He  excused  himself 
therefore  to  Mr.  Bull  as  well  as  he  could,  and  en 
deavoured  to  avoid  owning  the  fact,  till  Mr.  Tho 
mas  positively  affirmed  it  to  his  face,  offering  to 
produce  the  notes  which  he  had  taken ;  to  which 
the  professor  had  no  more  to  say :  and  they  parted 
with  no  other  satisfaction  to  Mr.  Bull,  than  that 
the  person  who  had  been  so  forward  to  defame  him 
in  his  absence,  durst  not  make  good  the  charge  to 
his  face. 

HOW  Dr.         XXXVIII.  Thus  Mr.  Bull  having  got  the  better 

Tally  be 
came  Dr.     of  the  professor,  and  hearing  no  more  after  this  from 

Barlow's          tj««»i_«ii 

second  a-  the  divinity-chair,  had  some  rest  for  a  time,  and  an 
Bull!1  opportunity  therewith,  of  examining  some  other  con 
troversies  of  another  nature.  But  though  Dr.  Bar 
low  was  silent  after  this  visit  made  him,  and  cared 
not  to  meddle  more  with  Mr.  Bull ;  yet  a  friend 
and  colleague  of  his  was  found  willing  to  undertake 
the  cause,  and  carry  on  the  charge  of  heterodoxy 
and  innovation  against  Mr.  Bull,  which  in  his  lec 
tures  he  had  begun,  but  wanted  courage  to  main 
tain.  This  was  Dr.  Tully,  formerly  fellow  of  Queen's 
college,  and  then  principal  of  St.  Edmund's  hall 
adjoining :  who  was  indeed  an  eloquent  and  learned 
writer :  nor  must  it  be  denied,  that  he  was  a  very 
valuable  person  for  other  reasons,  and  that  he  did 
much  good  in  the  university.  He  had  some  time 
before  printed  a  sort  of  System  in  divinity,  for  the 
use  of  young  students,  which  had  been  well  received, 


«  Praecipuorum  Theologise   Capitum    Enchiridion    didacticum. 
Lond.   1665,   1668,  &G. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  183 

it  having  had  several  editions.  But  his  notions  1675. 
being  partly  different  from  those  of  Mr.  Bull  in  ~ 
his  Harmonia,  the  doctor  was  prevailed  on  to  appear 
against  him  and  his  book  in  Latin ;  and  thereby  to 
vindicate  both  himself  and  his  friend,  who  had  been 
in  such  a  manner  challenged  as  hath  been  related. 
And  whereas  no  answer  had  yet  appeared  to  Mr. 
Bull's  book,  but  one  in  English,  and  that  written 
too  by  one  that  was  thrown  out  by  act  of  parlia 
ment  from  the  exercise  of  his  ministry ;  and  as  this 
might  be  matter  of  applause  to  Mr.  Bull  and  his 
friends,  that  no  one  yet  of  the  Church  of  England 
had  undertook  to  answer  him  from  the  press;  and 
that  a  famous  professor,  and  he  reputed  no  small 
master  in  the  polemical  part  of  his  profession  more 
especially,  thought  not  fit  to  venture,  when  nearly 
attacked,  to  maintain  the  cause  against  him,  but 
seemed  rather  to  retract  the  charge  of  heresy,  which 
had  been  by  him  so  liberally  bestowed ;  it  was  there 
fore  concluded,  that  this  charge  could  not,  with  any 
modesty,  be  kept  up  longer  against  the  Harmonia 
and  its  author,  without  there  was  a  thorough  answer 
to  it,  written  by  some  learned  divine  of  the  Church 
of  England ;  and  one  against  whom  there  could  lie 
no  exception  ;  who  should  therein  endeavour  to 
make  out,  that  Mr.  Bull's  explication  of  the  doc 
trine  of  justification  was  properly  heretical,  as  being 
contrary  in  a  fundamental  point  to  the  testimony  of 
Scripture,  and  against  the  opinion  of  the  catholic 
Fathers,  the  judgment  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  the  determinations  of  all  the  foreign  reformed 
churches. 

Now  there  could  not  be  any  one  fitter  for  this  The  fitness 

,      ,      .        ofDr.Tully 

than  the  learned  person  already  mentioned,  being  forsnr}lau- 


184  THE  LIFE  OF 

'675-    of  a  life  and   character  unexceptionable  ;  but  who 


undertak-  had  early  imbibed  other  sentiments  than  those  which 
hi|haexPt!Mr.Bull  had  published,  and  thence  had  read  both 
tationsfrom  tne  gcrjptures  and  the  ancient  church  writers  with 

him. 

quite  another  view :  and,  besides,  he  being  beneficed 
in  the  church,  for  the  doctrines  of  which,  against  all 
innovations  and  innovators,  he  expressed  an  extra^- 
ordinary  zeal ;  and  governor  at  the  same  time  of  an 
house  in  the  university,  which  was  by  his  diligence 
and  exact  discipline  made  to  flourish  ;  and  chaplain 
also  in  ordinary  to  the  king :  all  this  could  not  but 
make  it  to  look  somewhat  more  like  a  battery  from 
the  side  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  it  was  in 
tended,  than  any  that  had  yet  been  ;  and  there 
would  thus  want  one  objection  at  least  against  him 
in  Mr.  Bull's  favour,  which  was  too  obvious  not  to 
have  been  taken  notice  of,  in  the  case  of  one,  if  not 
both  of  Mr.  Bull's  former  adversaries.  An  answer 
therefore  was  accordingly  undertaken  by  this  learned 
doctor,  with  no  small  confidence  of  success, 
Some  en-  Some  nevertheless  of  his  friends  would  feign  have 

dcfivoiirs  of 

modest  men  dissuaded  him  from  engaging  in  this  matter,  being 
church,  to  °f  opinion,  that  he  would  but  hereby  create  himself 
an  unnecessary  labour,  without  serving  the  church, 
according  as  he  purposed  :  and  they  plainly  told  him, 
that  the  point  disputed  was  not  of  all  that  conse 
quence  which  he  took  it  to  be ;  and  that  therefore 
it  would  be  more  advisable  to  drop  the  controversy, 
for  the  sake  of  the  church's  peace,  than  by  this 
means  to  revive  and  keep  it  up  ;  especially  consider 
ing,  that  probably  in  the  end  this  would  turn  to  a 
mere  strife  about  terms.  They  who  gave  him  this 
advice,  whosoever  they  were,  had  not  hitherto  de 
clared  themselves  on  either  side,  as  it  appears,  but 


conten 
tions. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  185 

expressed  themselves  with  much  candour  and  mo- 
deration  towards  both  :  and  would  gladly  have 
allayed  the  heats  of  one  against  the  other,  and 
amicably  have  composed  their  differences.  But 
Dr.  Tully  was  not  able  to  bear  this  their  luke- 
warmness  and  wdifferency,  as  it  appeared  to  him  to 
be :  and  so  far  was  their  sober  admonition  from 
working  upon  him,  that  this  did  but  the  more  raise 
his  zeal,  and  quicken  him  to  persist  the  more  stead 
fastly  in  his  "resolution,  of  defending  what  he  looked 
on,  as  the  very  palladium  of  the  reformation.  And 
so  deep  was  this  notion  imprinted  on  his  mind,  that 
he  was  amazed  any  one  should  think  otherwise  :  nor 
could  he  tell  how  to  pardon  them,  who  charitably 
advised  him  not  to  intermeddle  in  this  cause,  which 
bishop  Sanderson x  declined,  because  he  was  not  for 
entering  into  a  controversy,  whereof  he  could. never 
expect  to  see  an  end.  Yea,  the  more  he  was  con 
vinced  that  these  were  wise  and  learned  men,  and 
lovers  of  the  truth,  his  admiration  grew  the  greater ; 
and  he  could  not  forbear  breaking  out  into  the 
highest  astonishment,  that  such  as  these  should  be 
so  far  carried  away  with  the  gallionism  of  the  age, 
as  to  consider  the  most  noble  and  momentous  of  all 
controversies  (in  his  opinion)  as  little  better  than 
a  squabble  about  words.  Thus  there  were  several 
endeavours  used  to  quash  that  intestine  strife  in  the 
church.  But  nothing  it  seems  was  able  to  divert 
the  doctor's  purpose  of  engaging  Mr.  Bull,  when  he 
was  once  resolved  of  the  matter,  and  so  he  pur 
sued  his  design,  being  borne  up  with  an  immoderate 

"  Epist.  Dedic.  et  Praef.  n.  3,  4.  Justif.  Paulina. 
x   [Made  bishop  of  Lincoln  in  1670.] 


186  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  assurance  of  the  goodness  of  his  cause,  even  so  far  as 
to  fancy  the  light  or  evidence  thereof  to  be  clearer 
than  the  sun  himself. 

what  Mr.  XXXIX.  A  great  while  before  it  went  to  the 
when  he  press,  the  book,  which  Dr.  Tully  had  been  set  to 
Tidijwas  write,  for  the  reasons  already  suggested,  was  dis- 
™ug  coursed  of  at  Oxford  :  and  thus  coming  to  the 

against 

him-  knowledge  of  the  worthy  person,  against  whom  it 
was  principally  directed,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to 
consult,  as  much  as  in  him  lay,  the  peace  of  the 
church  ;  that  so  the  adversaries  thereof  might  have 
no  occasion  to  triumph.  And  therefore  he  resolved 
to  offer  the  doctor  all  reasonable  satisfaction  in  the 
first  place,  entreating  him,  for  that  end,  the  favour  of 
a  friendly  conference  betwixt  them :  that  so,  before 
he  should  publish  what  he  was  preparing  against 
him  for  the  press,  they  might  come  rightly  to  un 
derstand  each  other,  and  not  lose  in  the  combat  what 
they  were  both  equally  contending  for.  Whence 
he  pressed  him  much,  that  the  truth  might  be  so 
amicably  and  candidly  examined  by  them,  as  became 
Christians  and  divines,  that  no  cause  of  scandal  might 
remain  ;  but  that  on  the  contrary,  every  offence 
might  be  removed  so  far  as  was  possible.  And  if 
any  had  been  justly  given,  by  his  Dissertations 
upon  Justification.,  or  by  either  of  them,  or  any 
error  or  mistake  by  him  therein  committed,  he  said, 
it  should  freely  be  owned  and  confessed  by  him, 
so  soon  as  ever  it  could  be  made  to  appear ;  this 
however  was  denied  him,  of  which  he  afterwards 
complained ;  and  it  was  thought  he  had  reason  so 
to  do.  For, 

While  this  treatise  of  Dr.  Tully  was  yet,  according 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  187 

to    his    own    expression?,    sticking    in    the    birth,     1675. 


there  was  brought  about  a  meeting  of  him  and  Mr.  what  pass- 
Bull,  for  this  very  end.  At  which,  Mr.  Bull  telling  of  M^Bd! 
him  how  he  heard  that  he  was  writing  against  him,  toDr'TulIy' 
did  very  earnestly  beseech  him,  "  above  all  things  to 
"  consider  well  the  peace  of  God's  church,  and  to 
"  take  diligent  heed,  lest  by  public  dissension  be- 
"  tween  two  divines  of  the  same  communion,  the 
f*  enemies  of  our  church  might  take  occasion  of  up- 
"  braiding  and  reproaching  her ;  or,  besides  the 
•"  schismatics,  some  even  of  her  own  weak  members 
"  might  happen  to  be  offended  hereby  also.  And 
"  did  therefore  entreat  him,  that  he  would  for  pre- 
"  venting  this  evil  be  pleased,  as  a  friend,  to  com- 
"  rnunicate  to  him  his  papers  ;  upon  this  condition, 
"  that  if  by  these  he  could  make  it  out,  that  he 
"  had  written  any  thing  against  sound  doctrine,  he 
"  wrould  not  refuse  publicly  to  retract  his  error." 
This  proposal  appeared  then  so  very  reasonable, 
that  Dr.  Tully  seemed  to  agree  to  it,  and  an 
swered,  "  That  he  might  in  a  very  little  while 
"  send  him  perhaps  a  copy  of  those  his  papers." 
But  after  this,  Mr.  Bull  never  once  heard  from 
him ;  nor  had  any  reason  given  him  for  the  altera 
tion  of  his  mind. 

At  length,  about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1674,  Dr.  Tuiiy 
there  was  published  at  Oxford,  after  much  expecta-j^,  amwer 
tion,  permissu  superiorum,   according  as    the  title- to Mr>  Bull> 
page    expresseth    it,   a  Latin    treatise ;    which  was 
inscribed,    Justificatio    Paulina    sine    operibus,    ex 
mente  Ecclesice  Anglicance,    omniumque   reliquarum 
quce  Reformats  audiunt  asserta  et  illustrata  contra 

y  [Apol.  pro  Harm.  sect.  ii.  4.] 


188  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  nuperos  NOVATORES  :  Author e  Tho.  Tullio,  S.T.P. 
~  &c.  that  is,  Justification,  as  delivered  by  St.  Paul,  with 
out  works,  asserted  and  illustrated  according  to  the 
sense  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  of  all  the  rest  of 
the  reformed  churches,  against  the  late  innovators: 
by  Thomas  Tully,  D.D.  and  Principal  of  Edmund  hall 
in  Oxford,  &c.  with  the  permission  of  superiors ;  in 
4to.  To  this  was  also  added  another  short  tract  at 
the  end,  in  answer  more  particularly  to  the  ninth 
chapter  of  Mr.  Bull's  second  dissertation  of  his  Har- 
monia,  without  ever  mentioning  his  name,  under  the 
title  of  Dissertatiuncula  de  Sententia  Paulina,  Rom. 
vii.  a  com.  14  ;  in  qua  ostenditur  Paulum  de 
se  loqui  regenito.,  non  autem  in  persona  hominis 
nondum  regeniti.  i.  e.  A  short  Dissertation,  con 
cerning  the  meaning  of  St.  Paul  in  the  viith  to  the 
Romans,  from  the  14th  verse ;  wherein  is  shewn, 
that  St.  Paul  speaketh  not  in  the  person  of  a  man 
unregenerate,  but  of  himself  as  regenerate.  Now 
notwithstanding  that  the  author  was  encouraged  to 
the  publication  of  this  book  by  bishop  Morley2; 
awho  read  it  over  in  manuscript,  not  without  some 
shew  of  approbation,  (the  Appendix  aforesaid  only 
excepted,  which  we  are  told  was  revised  and  ap 
proved  by  another  learned  prelate  of  our  church, 
whose  name  is  not  indeed  expressed ;  but  whom  I 
suppose  to  have  been  the  then  bishop  of  Lincoln,  even 
his  good  friend  Dr.  Barlow,  lately  b  advanced  to  that 
see  ;)  it  is  yet  said,  he  met  with  no  small  obstructions 
in  the  bringing  it  forth c,  and  was  forced  at  last  to 

z  [Bishop  of  Worcester  in  1660,  and  translated  to  Winchester 
in  1662.] 

a  Epist.  Dedic.  p.  8.  b  [jn  1675.] 

c  [Vid.  Apol.  pro  Harm.  sect.  ii.  4.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  189 

make  use  of  an  artifice,  before  he  could  obtain  leave     1675. 


to  have  it  printed :  whence  he  calleth  this  his  book, 
AInfcelicis  Horoscopi  foetus  ;  as  if  it  were  born 
under  an  unfortunate  planet ;  and  so  heavily  com- 
plaineth  of  the  hardness  of  its  parent's  labour,  as  also 
of  his  being  threatened  with  a  smart  answer.  Of 
the  occasion  and  motives  for  his  engaging  in  this 
controversy,  enough  hath  been  said  already.  Of  the 
contents  and  method  of  his  book,  so  far  at  least  as 
Mr.  Bull  was  therein  concerned,  it  remains  now  to 
give  some  account,  for  the  affording  a  light  to  the 
history  of  this  controversy,  and  to  some  part  of  the 
life  of  so  eminent  a  writer  in  our  church,  as  this  that 
I  am  now  employed  in. 

He  stateth  then  the  question  after  this  manner.  The  man- 

mi  •  T  «iii  i  ner  °^  ^'s 

Ihere  is  no  disagreement,  saith  he,  between  them  stating  the 
about  the  sense  of  the  word  justification ;  and  he  al-  anTesta'- 
loweth  these  four  things,  viz.  1.  That  the  faith  which  JJ^jf 
justifieth  is  not  barren,  and  fruitless  of  good  works,  opinion. 
2.  That  the  radical  seeds  or  habits  of  the  other  vir 
tues  are  also  infused  together  into  the  soul  along 
with  faith.     3.  That  good  works  are  needful  to  sal 
vation  ;  so  that  without  them  it  cannot  be  attained. 
4.  That  justification  may,  in  a  declarative  sense,  be 
attributed  to   works   of  righteousness ;    all  this  he 
freely  yieldeth  to  Mr.  Bull.     But  the  TO  Kptvo/mevov  in 
this  controversy,  according  to  him,  "  is  that,  for  the 
"  sake  of  which  God  may  receive  a  sinner  to  grace, 
"  may  acquit  him   from  the  curse  of  the  law,  and 
"  may  make  him  an  heir  of  everlasting  life."     And 
it  is   here  agreed,  that    on  God's   part   this   must 
be  the  merit  of  Christ,  and  that  alone ;   the  only 

d  Prsef.  p.  7. 


190  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  difference  ariseth  from  the  application  of  this  merit; 
that  is,  whether  it  be  by  faith  and  works  together, 
or  else  by  the  former  alone.  This  latter  opinion  is 
by  him  maintained  to  be  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
of  England,  and  the  catholic  church^  and  particularly 
of  all  the  churches  that  are  called  reformed :  and 
the  other  he  accuseth  of  great  singularity  and  no 
velty,  which  he  undertaketh  to  prove,  but  with  what 
success,  is  left  to  the  learned  and  candid  examiner 
to  judge.  For  he  echallengeth  all  the  Fathers,  both 
before  and  after  St.  Augustin,  to  be  of  his  opinion  ; 
most  heavily  charging,  at  the  same  time,  the  con 
trary  one,  as  unsupported  by  any  one  Christian 
writer.  He  readily  yieldeth  indeed,  that  there  are 
different  uses  of  the  word  justification  found  among 
the  holy  Fathers ;  but  contendeth,  that  they  all  uni 
versally  agree  in  the  thing  itself,  and  stand  up 
against  the  righteousness  of  works,  for  the  right 
eousness  of  faith,  in  our  acceptance  with  God.  And 
thus  having  claimed  the  judgment  of  the  catholic 
Fathers,  without  so  much  as  one  of  them  excepted, 
to  be  unanimously  for  him  ;  and  triumphed  over  Mr. 
Bull,  as  he  thought,  on  this  head,  where  his  greatest 
excellency  was  generally  esteemed  to  lie ;  he  pro- 
ceedeth  to  fexplain  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England,  from  her  Articles  and  Homilies,  insisting 
very  much  upon  the  literal  and  grammatical  sense 
of  them,  and  from  the  testimony  of  some  of  her 
most  learned  writers,  such  as  Mr.  Hooker  and  bishop 
Andrews :  and  then  Spasseth  on  to  the  judgment  of 
the  foreign  reformed  churches;  instancing  in  the 
several  confessions  of  the  protestants  of  Germany, 

l>  Cap.  ii.  p.  i  2.  f  Cap.  iii.  p.  20.  S  Cap.  iv.  p.  28. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  191 

France,  Holland,  Poland,  Hungary,  Bohemia,  and  l675- 
Switzerland,  besides  the  oriental  confessions  of  faith 
by  Cyrillus  Lucaris.  All  which  he  hath  endeavoured 
to  bring  over  to  his  side,  not  without  some  appear 
ance  of  truth,  and  appealed  to  as  witnesses  for  him, 
against  the  harmonist. 

Now  having  laboured  to  establish  his  own  opinion,  His  account 
which  he  supposeth  to  be  the  faith  of  the  Church  ofsonswhTlu 
England,  and  to  fortify  it  by  the  authority  of  Fathers  J™  "^ 
and  Synods,  and  by  the  whole  strength  of  the  re 
formation  ;  his  next  endeavour  is,  to  inquire  how 
Mr.  Bull,  or  any  other,  the  matter  appearing  to  him 
so  very  plain,  could  possibly  fall  into  the  contrary 
opinion.  Wherefore  the  far  greatest  part  of  his 
book  is  taken  up  in  discovering  what  he  is  pleased 
to  call,  the  fountains  of  this  error.  The  1st  of 
these  is,  according  to  him,  the  h abuse  of  the  doctrine 
concerning  justification,  as  by  him  explained,  or  the 
fear  of  antinomianism  ;  and  upon  this  he  spends  a 
whole  chapter.  The  2d  is  the  'distinction  between 
justifying  works  and  the  merit  of  them  ;  upon  this 
he  hath  also  another  chapter,  and  is  large  in  discuss 
ing  the  meaning  of  that  distinction,  ex  operibus  and 
propter  opera.  The  3d  is  the  k  exclusion  of  some 
works,  and  the  admission  of  the  rest,  contrary  (as 
he  will  have  it)  to  the  express  mind  of  St.  Paul. 
The  4th  is  the  limputative  righteousness  of  Christ, 
either  exploded  or  not  rightly  understood ;  which  he 
maintaineth  to  be  a  very  great  cause  of  error  in  this 
matter.  The  5th  is  the  manner  of  arguing  from 
the  m  concomitance  of  works  with  faith,  for  the  jus- 

h  Cap.  v.  p.  39.  '  Cap.  vi.  p.  44.  167.  k  Cap.  vii. 

p.  52.  1  Cap.  viii.  p.  76.  '"  Cap.  ix.  p.  96.  i  70. 


192  THE  LIFE  OF 

l67j>-  tification  by  works.  The  6th  is  the  misunderstand 
ing  the  "nature  of  justifying  faith.  The  7th  and 
last  is  the  "symbolizing  with  popery.  These  he 
maketh  the  seven  sources,  or  causes  of  departing 
from  the  unity  of  the  church's  doctrine,  concerning 
justification,  as  the  same  is  stated  by  him ;  and  to 
make  this  out  he  hath  spared  no  labour,  and  hath 
said  some  things  that  are  not  amiss.  This  inquiry 
being  finished,  the  last  chapter  was  reserved  by  him 
for  the  P reconciliation  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  James. 
But  he  thinketh  there  was  no  need  of  it,  and  con- 
demneth  the  harmonist  and  others,  for  being  at  so 
much  pains,  where  there  was  so  little  occasion  for 
it ;  there  being  no  disagreement  at  all,  saith  he,  be 
tween  them,  seeing  that  they  speak  not  of  the  same 
faith  or  justification,  and  so  cannot  differ.  How 
ever,  he  commendeth  Mr.  Bull's  industry,  and  wish- 
eth  only,  that  he  might  employ  his  parts  for  the 
cause  of  truth  and  of  the  Christian  faith.  This 
treatise  Dr.  Tully  was  willing  should  be  thought  to 
have  been  written  by  him,  in  defence  of  the  Xlth 
Article  of  the  Church  of  England.  It  was  learnedly 
writ,  and  with  some  spirit,  and  by  many  at  first  it 
was  approved  of,  who  concluded  that  he  had  the 
better  of  the  harmonist,,  especially  in  his  2d,  3d,  and 
4th  chapters,  where  his  chief  strength  was  thought 
to  consist,  and  in  the  conclusion. 

Thed*-          XL.  As  Dr.Tully's  treatise  of  Justification  was 

sign  of  his  » 

discourse,    pretended  to  be  written  in  defence  of  the  Xlth.  so 

DeSenten-  ....  J  J 

tia  Paulina,  was  his  dissertation   of  Original  Sin,  which  is  his 
commentary  on  the  seventh  to  the  Romans,  no  less 

n  Cap.  x.  p.  104.          o  Cap.  xi.  p.  115.          p  Cap.  xii.  p.  131. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  193 

pretended  to  be  written  in  defence  of  the  IXtk  Ar-  1675. 
tide  of  our  religion.  The  principal  design  whereof  ~ 
is  to  explain  and  defend  these  following  propositions, 
and  more  particularly  the  last  of  them  ;  viz.  1.  Ori 
ginal  sin  is  the  depravation  of  nature,  propagated 
from  Adam  to  every  man.  2.  By  this  depravation 
man  is  very  much  departed  from  original  righteous 
ness,  and  hath  a  natural  propensity  to  evil,  the  flesh 
lusting  always  against  the  spirit.  3.  This  very  de 
pravation  and  corruption  of  nature  is  not  only  at 
first  in  every  person  born  into  this  world,  but  doth 
remain  even  in  them  that  are  regenerate.  4.  The 
permanence  of  such  depravation  in  the  regenerate 
is  confessed  and  avowed  by  St.  Paul,  and  that  even 
in  his  own  person  :  and  this  hath  of  itself  the  nature 
of  sin,  and  is  thence  no  less  than  seven  times  called 
by  the  name  of  sin  in  this  very  seventh  to  the  Ro 
mans.  Here  he  mightily  triumpheth  over  the  har 
monist,  as  he  every  where  calls  him,  for  understand 
ing  St.  Paul  no  better,  and  for  not  attending  enough 
to  the  doctrine  of  his  own  church.  He  chargeth 
him  with  too  much  precipitancy  and  magisterialness 
in  judging,  witli  affectation  of  novelty,  with  not 
rightly  numbering  the  votes  of  the  ancient  Christian 
writers,  with  reviving  a  calumny  of  Pelagius  against 
them,  and  with  mistaking  the  sense  of  the  apostle 
several  times,  and  wresting  it.  with  vain  and  ground 
less  criticisms.  And  he  endeavoureth  to  shew,  how 
among  the  Fathers,  Augustin  and  Hierom  are  flatly 
against  the  harmonist,  though  they  were  at  first, 
before  they  had  examined  into  the  matter,  of  another 
opinion;  how  Hilary  also,  Nazianzen,  and  others, 
before  the  disputes  between  Pelagius  and  Augustin, 
had  the  same  sentiment ;  how  a  probable  reason  may 

o 


194  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  be  given,  why  Origen,  Chrysostom,  and  Theodoret 
were  of  another  mind ;  that  Aquinas,  Salmero,  Pe- 
rerius,  A  Lapide,  and  Estius  among  the  Roman 
writers,  and  even  the  catechism  of  Trent  itself,  are 
against  his  interpretations ;  and  how  the  arguments 
which  he  hath  brought  for  the  defence  thereof  are 
not  able  to  bear  up  his  hypothesis,  which  seemeth  to 
him  grounded  upon  a  Pelagian  bottom,  or  upon  the 
great  Diana  (as  he  will  needs  have  it)  of  free-will. 
It  seems  that  Dr.  Tully  was  persuaded,  that  if  he 
could  but  overthrow  Mr.  Bull's  interpretation  of  this 
place  in  St.  Paul,  he  should  thereby  be  able  to  over 
turn  at  once  the  whole  fabric  of  his  Harmonia ;  and 
indeed  Mr.  Bull  himself  had  before  given  the  hint  1 : 
therefore  he  is  so  long  on  this  point,  considering  it 
as  the  most  fundamental  one  in  the  whole  building ; 
to  subvert  which,  he  was  hence  for  leaving  no  stone 
unturned.  This  dissertation  is  by  some  looked  on 
as  the  most  considerable  part  of  the  doctor  s  perform 
ance  in  this  cause :  and  is  more  than  once  taken 
notice  of  by  r  Mr.  Bull,  as  that  which  deserved  his 
most  particular  answer,  and  further  consideration. 
For  he  thought  there  was  little  else  besides  in  what 
Dr.  Tully  had  written  against  him,  but  what  he  had 
already  answered,  in  examination  of  Mr.  Gataker's 
angry  Animadversions  :  and  that  this  only  had  the 
face  of  any  thing  like  a  direct  answer  to  that  part  of 
his  book,  which  was  referred  to  by  it. 
Dr.  Tully  goon  after  j)r  Tully  had  published  his  Justifica- 

dies,  his  »  » 

character,    tio  Paulina,  with   the   mentioned    dissertation,  De 
Sententia  Paulina;  he  had,  by  the  interest  of  his 

fl  Harm.  Apost.  dissert,  ii.  cap.  9.  n.  27. 

r  Prsef.  adExamen,  n.  3.  Prsef.  ad  Apol.n.  2.  Apol.  sect.  ix.  n.i. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  195 

friends  at  court,  the  deanery  of  Rippon  given  him ;  1675. 
which  yet  he  enjoyed  not  long ;  for  he  hardly  lived 
out  a  year  after  he  had  this  preferment,  being  broken 
quite  with  his  controversial  studies :  so  that  he  lived 
not  to  see  himself  answered  by  Mr.  Bull,  though  he 
heard  of  it,  his  Apology  against  him  being  in  the 
press,  and  almost  printed  off  when  the  good  doctor 
departed  this  life.  This  Dr.  Thomas  Tully  had 
merited  the  reputation  of  a  very  pious  and  learned 
man ;  but,  as  some  that  personally  knew  him  have 
observed,  it  was  his  great  misfortune  that  he  betook 
himself  to  write  controversy  ;  and  especially,  that  he 
engaged  with  so  brisk  a  writer  as  Mr.  Bull  was,  even 
then  when  he  was  well  nigh  worn  out.  Had  he  kept 
to  practical  divinity,  few  could  have  exceeded  him  : 
and  as  he  was  master  of  an  excellent  Latin  style, 
with  a  good  degree  of  vivacity  of  thought,  and  easi 
ness  of  method,  it  is  very  probable,  by  those  speci 
mens  he  hath  given  the  world  of  his  ability  that 
way,  that  if  he  had  followed  herein  the  true  bias  of 
his  genius,  he  could  not  have  failed  to  make  himself 
famous.  Some  indeed  seem  to  have  had  another 
opinion  concerning  him,  and  to  think  he  had  a  genius 
also  well  enough  turned  for  controversy.  But  no 
wonder  if  they  were  disappointed,  by  expecting  too 
much  of  him,  and  beyond  what  the  cause  could  really 
bear.  And  happy  had  it  been  for  him,  in  the  judg 
ment  of  his  best  friends,  had  he  never  intermeddled 
in  these  theological  wars.  For  neither  in  body  nor 
in  mind,  say  they,  was  he  fitted  for  them.  Since  he 
was  a  person  but  of  a  weak  constitution,  and  the 
many  bodily  ills  and  infirmities  which  he  laboured 
under,  especially  in  his  later  years,  tended  much  to 
discompose  his  mind  for  that  intense  application 

o  2 


196  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  which  is  here  required,  and  to  render  him  a  little  too 
hasty  in  determining  matters,  before  they  could  be 
thoroughly  considered  and  weighed.  Otherwise  he 
was  noted  for  being  a  good  disputant,  as  well  as  a 
good  preacher  and  orator.  But  the  natural  severity 
of  his  temper  being  heated  with  the  strict  Calvinisti- 
cal  doctrines  bound  him  so  strait  up,  that  he  was 
made  hereby  not  very  capable  of  managing  an 
argument  with  all  that  success  which  might  have 
been  expected  from  him,  considering  his  parts  and 
learning. 

Mr.  Bnii         XLI.  In  the  year  1675,  soon  after  the  death  of 
Eh  J£*M-     Dr.  Tully,  and  about  the  end  of  the  year,  was  pub- 


lished  by  our  author8,  An  Examination  of  the  Cen- 
\aaApoio-  sure^    or    an    Answer    to    certain    Animadversions 

Cflfl  tO- 

gether.  never  before  published,  upon  a  booh,  entitled,  The 
Apostolical  Harmony,  fyc.  By  George  Bull,  a 
presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England.  With  which 
was  joined  also  this  other  book  of  his,  entitled,  *  An 
Apology  for  the  Apostolical  Harmony,  and  the 
Author  thereof,  against  the  Declamation  of  Tho 
mas  Tully,  1).  D.  in  a  book  lately  set  forth  by 
him,  under  the  title  of  Justificatio  Paulina.  There 
is  a  sufficient  account  given  in  the  prefaces  to  both 
these  discourses,  of  the  reason  why  they  were  both 
published  together,  and  why  so  late  also  :  and  there- 

s  Examen  Censurae  sive  Responsio  ad  quasdam  Animadver- 
siones  antehac  ineditas,  in  librum  cui  titulus  Harmonia  Aposto- 
lica,  &c.  per  Georgium  Bullum,  Anglicame  Ecclesise  presbyte- 
rum. 

'  Apologia  pro  Harmonia  ejusque  Authore  contra  Declamatio- 
nem  Thornse  Tullii,  S.  T.  P.  in  libro  nuper  typis  evulgato  quern 
Justificatio  Paulina,  &c.  inscripsit. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  197 

fore  it  would  be  very  foolish  to  object,  that  it  is  an  1675. 
easy  matter  to  fight  against  dead  men  ;  for  it  was 
not  Mr.  Bull's  fault,  that  both  these  replies  were  not 
printed  while  his  adversaries  were  yet  alive.  And 
he  is  certainly  to  be  commended,  that  as  soon  as 
he  heard  of  Dr.  Tully's  death,  he  took  immediate 
care  to  have  several  passages  blotted  out  of  the 
sheets  remaining  to  be  printed,  because  they  con 
tained  some  pretty  sharp  reflections  upon  him,  though 
they  were  true  in  fact,  and  by  some  of  Mr.  Bull's 
friends  thought  too  necessary  to  be  omitted.  Mr. 
Bull  also  professeth,  as  a  good  Christian,  that  he 
would  willingly  have  struck  out  a  great  deal  more, 
if  it  was  possible  to  have  been  done  without  a  very 
great  injury  to  the  truth  ;  for  as  to  what  he  might 
suffer  in  his  own  person  through  such  an  omission, 
he  was  not  solicitous.  This  upon  several  occasions 
he  repeateth  ;  and  certainly  he  may  deserve  to  be 
believed  in  it,  when  he  maketh  such  a  profession  of 
his  sincerity  before  God  and  the  world. 

So  far  as  Gataker  and  Truman  are  concerned  in  An  obser- 
the  first  of  these  treatises,  there  hath  been  enough  his  EJU- 
said  already  :  but  there  remaineth  still  one  observa-  ™™n™tes 
tion  to  be  made  concerning  it,  which  respecteth  the  ^s  since- 
author  himself.     And  this  I  cannot  but  here  men 
tion,  because  I  look  upon  it  as  a  greater  vindication 
of  our  author,  both  against  them  and  all  his  other 
adversaries,  than  any   one  that  hath  hitherto   been 
mentioned  ;  and  as  a  greater  instance  of  his  candour 
and  love  of  truth,  than  is  to  be  met  with  in  most 
writers  at  this  clay.     I  observe  therefore,  that  his 
Examen  ought  not  to  be  considered   barely  as  an 
answer  to  his  adversaries'  objections,  but  moreover 


198  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  as  a  fuller  explication  of  his  own  sentiments.  For" 
~he  very  solemnly  assureth  us,  that  when  he  was 
above  forty  years  of  age,  he  read  over  again  his 
Harmonia  several  times ;  that  he  did  this  with  as 
much  seriousness  and  impartiality  as  it  was  possible 
for  him ;  and  that  he  earnestly  prayed  to  God  in  the 
first  place,  that  he  would  vouchsafe  to  enlighten  his 
mind  with  a  beam  of  his  heavenly  light,  and  to  dis 
cover  unto  him  every  error  of  his  whatsoever  against 
the  divine  truth  ;  that  for  this  end,  he  did  his  ut 
most  to  strip  himself  of  all  self-love,  and  of  fondness 
for  his  own  work  ;  yea,  that  he  made  also  a  x  vow, 
and  most  solemnly  and  sacredly  bound  himself  to 
God,  that  upon  the  discovery  of  his  errors,  he  would 
openly  and  publicly  before  the  church  renounce  them, 
without  the  least  regard  had  therein  to  his  own 
reputation.  Upon  which  review  of  his  work,  so 
accurately  and  so  religiously  performed,  he  declareth, 
that  there  were  some  things  in  it  which  might  have 
been  explained  more  clearly  and  fully,  and  which 
indeed  ought  to  have  been  so,  for  the  sake  at  least 
of  younger  readers ;  and  that  therefore  he  had  en 
deavoured  to  supply  this  explication  as  well  as  he 
could  in  his  Examen.  Moreover  he  confesses,  that 
he  had  discovered  his  interpretation  of  a  difficult 
place  or  two  in  St.  Paul  not  to  be  so  certain  as  he 
at  first  thought;  but  that  he  could  not  learn  any 
that  was  more  certain.  Wherefore  also,  he  is  not 
for  insisting  at  all  upon  what  is  in  its  nature  obscure 

u  Apolog.  sect.  viii.  n.  5. 

*  Quibus  [precibus]  sancte  quoque  vovi  et  spospondi,  me  osten- 
sos  errores,  susque  deque  habita  existimatione  mea,  palam  et 
publice  coram  ecclesia  abrenuntiaturum.  Ibid. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  199 

and  difficult,  or  what  requireth  an  exactness  of  l675- 
critical  skill,  or  what  is  only  incidental  and  circum 
stantial,  but  only  upon  the  main  of  the  argument, 
which  hey  supposeth  he  hath  sufficiently  cleared. 
And  however  he  may  possibly  be  mistaken  in  some 
lesser  matters,  he  protesteth,  that  as  to  the  substance 
of  the  doctrine  of  man's  justification,  which  is  by 
him  defended  according  to  the  mind  of  both  apostles, 
he  is  not  without  the  highest  degree  of  certainty  of 
his  being  in  the  right.  To  give  some  few  instances 
of  matters  explained  by  Mr.  Bull  in  this  latter  piece, 
which  wanted  to  be  more  distinctly  and  fully  stated, 
it  maybe  sufficient  to  mention  the2  form  of  justi 
fying  faith,  the  imputative  righteousness  of  Christ, 
the  questions  about  the  Mosaical  law,  and  the  na 
ture  of  the  first  covenant  with  man  in  his  state  of 
integrity. 

And  as  to  the  other  treatise,  written  in  answer  toAnobser. 

'iiiiii  i    vation  upon 

Dr.  Tully,  the  same  observation  will  also  hold  good,  his 


For  there  are  abundance  of  passages  in  this  up 
down,  which  do  clearly  confirm  the  great  sincerity  the  same> 
and  ingenuity  of  our  author  in  the  management  of 
this  controversy.  And  if  this  be  not  a  fair  and  full 
apology,  both  for  himself  and  his  Harmonia,  against 
what  was  objected  by  that  reverend  doctor  and  his 
revisors,  there  never  was  a  cause  in  the  world  fairly 
and  fully  defended.  And  I  must  needs  say  also,  that 
he  hath  made  the  best  apology  for  his  adversary  too, 
that  could  be  made,  in  one  article,  wherein  he  is  con 
trary  to  him,  and  which  by  parity  of  reason  may  be 
extended  to  the  rest  of  the  articles  in  like  manner, 
wherein  they  do  not  agree.  For  with  much  inge- 

y  Exam.  Cens.  Epilogus. 

z  Exam.  Cens.  Respons.  ad  Animadv.  ii.xi.  xvii.  xix.  xx. 


000  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  imity  he  confesseth,  "That  a  Dr.  Tully  had  not  a 
"  few  divines  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  those 
"  of  some  eminence  also  in  it,  who  had  led  him  into 
"  the  error;  but  that  these  learned  men  lived  in 
"  those  times,  when,  by  the  arts  of  some  certain 
"  persons  that  were  extremely  wedded  to  the  Geneva 
"  divinity,  matters  were  come  to  that  pass,  that  it 
"  was  hardly  safe  for  any  one  to  interpret  either  the 
"  Articles  of  our  church,  or  even  the  holy  Scrip- 
"  litres  themselves,  otherwise  than  according  to  the 
"  standard  of  Calmiis  Institutions,  whose  error 
"  therefore,  saith  he,  ought  not  so  much  to  be  im- 
"  puted  to  them,  as  to  the  age  wherein  they  lived. 
"  Since  almost  in  every  age,  as  one  hath  well  ob- 
"  served,  there  is  as  it  were  a  certain  torrent  of 
"  opinions  proper  to  it,  against  which,  whosoever 
"  shall  go  to  oppose  himself,  he  will  certainly  either 
"  be  carried  away  with  the  violence  thereof,  or  be 
"  quite  overwhelmed."  This  is  an  observation  that 
is  very  just ;  and  the  candour  of  Mr.  Bull,  in  the 
application  of  it,  ought  not,  I  think,  to  be  quite 
passed  over  in  silence.  Nay,  did  I  know  a  better 
excuse  for  Dr.  Tully,  and  other  good  and  learned 
men,  who  were  educated  in  such  times,  and  accord 
ing  to  such  principles,  and  so  were  carried  on  by  the 
zeal  of  what  was  called  orthodox,  I  would  be  as 
willing  to  do  him  and  them  right,  as  the  worthy 
person  whose  life  I  am  writing.  But  I  know  no 
better  than  that  which  this  judicious  apologist  hath 
made  himself  on  their  behalf.  There  are  not  a  few 
instances  besides  in  this  very  treatise,  which  prove 
him  a  sincere  as  well  as  a  learned  writer,  but  which 

a  Apol.  sect.  vii.  n.  7. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  201 

cannot  be  here  insisted  on.  It  is  much  to  be  la-  |675- 
mented,  that  so  good  a  man  as  Dr.  Tully  was  gene 
rally  esteemed  to  be,  should  so  unhappily  be  engaged 
in  a  controversy  of  this  nature,  but  especially,  that 
he  should  be  so  far  transported  in  the  management 
of  it,  as  not  to  examine  with  a  due  care  the  argu 
ments  and  authorities  of  his  author  whom  he  pro 
posed  to  answer,  and  thereby  should  lay  himself  too 
open  to  a  just  censure,  and  should  hurt  his  reputa 
tion  so  far,  as  even  to  render  himself  by  this  means 
suspected  of  some  insincerity.  Yet  it  is  to  be  feared, 
that  this  hath  been  the  case  of  many  an  honest  man, 
who,  by  the  strength  of  prejudice  and  an  impetuosity 
of  zeal,  may  have  been  carried  much  farther  than 
ever  was  designed,  to  the  no  small  prejudice  of  the 
truth.  But  for  Mr.  Bull  it  must  needs  be  acknow 
ledged,  that  with  a  very  laudable  diligence  he  spared 
no  pains,  that  he  might  thoroughly  and  impartially 
examine  all  that  ever  his  adversary  could  bring 
against  him  :  neither  must  it  be  denied,  that  he  hath 
made  such  just  and  reasonable  concessions,  as  render 
his  own  cause  the  stronger,  while  they  yield  to  the 
opposite  that  which  it  might  lawfully  demand.  And 
indeed,  this  his  apology  is  written  with  so  much 
masterly  strength  and  judgment,  that  a  very  learned 
foreigner  called  it  the  Triumph  of  the  Church  of  Dr.  Grabe. 

England  in  this  cause. 

* 

XLII.  Now  whereas  the  authority  of  certain  fo-  The  prefer- 

,       ,    ,  -,  f,   .        ,,  .  ring  modern 

reign  divines  had  been  made  use  ot  in  tins  contro-authority 


versy  by  Dr.  Tully  and  others,  against  the  catholic  jjj"^;, ;. 
tradition  of  this  article,  as  explained  and  maintained  jjj^*^1 
in  the  Harmonia,  our  apologist  affirms  it  to 
most  unreasonable,  and  against  the  principles  of  the 


202  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675.  Church  of  England,  to  prefer  the  authority  of  any 
modern  doctor  or  doctors  whatsoever,  before  a  truth 
grounded  upon  Scripture,  with  the  unanimous  con 
sent  of  the  catholic  church.  Upon  this  occasion,  he 
taketh  notice  of  what  bishop  Jewel  had  urged  before, 
in  his  Apology  for  our  Reformation,  that  it  was 
founded  purely  upon  catholic  principles,  and  upon 
the  model  of  the  primitive  church ;  by  which  means 
the  new  discipline  introduced  by  Calvin  being  re 
jected,  the  order  of  episcopacy  was  retained,  and  the 
most  ancient  forms  of  public  prayers,  and  sacred 
rites,  and  several  primitive  doctrines,  not  in  the  least 
agreeable  with  Calvin's  notions,  which  are  by  him 
there  particularized,  were  established  and  confirmed. 
And  as  for  the  judgment  of  the  Church  of  England 
upon  this  point,  he  appealeth  to  a  canon  made  in 
full  convocation,  A.  D.  1571,  and  afterwards  con 
firmed  by  queen  Elizabeth,  whereby  it  is  ordained, 
that  all  preachers  shall  chiefly  take  heed.,  that  they 
teach  nothing  but  what  is  agreeable  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  and  what  the 
catholic  fathers  and  primitive  bishops  have  thence 
collected.  And  moreover  he  cites  a  constitution  of 
king  James  the  First,  requiring  all  candidates  of 
divinity  not  to  spend  much  of  their  time  in  systems 
and  compendiums,  but  to  apply  themselves  seriously 
to  the  study  of  such  books,  as  are  agreeable  to  the 
doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  particularly  to  the  reading  of  the  fathers,  coun 
cils,  schoolmen,  histories :  and  to  this  he  adds  the 
testimonies  of  many  eminent  writers  in  our  church 
to  the  same  purpose,  professing  themselves  most 
readily  to  embrace,  next  to  the  sacred  books,  the 
consentient  testimony  of  the  ancient  Fathers;  and 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  203 

that  they  were  not  willing  to  admit  any  thing,  either     '675. 
in  the  doctrine  or  government  in  the  church,  which 
should  not  be  agreeable  to  it. 

Upon  which  the  most  learned  and  pious  editor  of  The  best 
his  works  could  not  forbear  expressing  his  most  "iTding  tx»u- 
hearty  wishes,  that  there  were  many  more  of  the'™^8'68 
same  opinion,  who  would  not  refuse  to  submit  their church- 
private  thoughts  and  interpretations  of  Scripture,  to 
be  determined  by  primitive  and  universal  tradition ; 
hoping  that  this  might  be  a  means  of  restoring  the 
church  to  a  better  state.  Our  author  now  hath 
clearly  given  his  judgment  in  this  matter,  and  hath 
declared  himself  in  more  than  one  place,  that  this  is 
the  best,  yea  the  only  way  of  ending  our  most  un 
happy  controversies,  which  have  rent  the  church  of 
Christ  at  this  day  in  so  many  parts,  if  next  to  the 
Scriptures,  we  would  receive  and  reverence  the  most 
pure  and  primitive  antiquity,  and  persuade  others  to 
the  same  practice,  and  religiously  follow  the  agree 
ing  judgment  of  the  ancient  doctors  approved  by 
the  catholic  church,  and  especially  of  them  who  were 
nearest  to  the  apostolical  age,  wheresoever  this  can 
be  found ;  which,  he  asserteth,  is  to  be  found  in  all 
those  points  that  are  of  any  great  moment ;  and  as 
for  the  rest,  his  advice  is,  that  every  one  be  left  to 
the  liberty  of  his  own  judgment,  but  so  as  not  to 
disturb  the  peace  of  the  church. 

XLIII.  And  whereas  Dr.  Tully  had  among  other  Mr.  Bull 

.  .  i  •        i      •  i         answers  Dr. 

things  b   objected   also  against  him,  his    being    but  Tuiiy's  ob- 
little  acquainted  with  the  ancient  Fathers  of  thei^nuie0 
church,  when   he    published    his   Harmonia ;    and ski11  m  tlie 

h  Apol.  sect.  iv. 


204  THE  LIFE  OF 

that  therefore  he  should  not  have  attempted  to  write 
when  his  skill  in  antiquity  was  so  moderate ;  Mr. 
Bull  modestly  acknowledged  omnia  mea  modica, 
fa^  ne  ]ia(]  llo  great  matter  indeed  to  boast  of  in 
any  part  of  learning :  but  however  he  gives  him  to 
understand,  that  for  no  less  than  five  years  before  he 
wrote  his  Harmonia,  he  had  addicted  himself  to 
the  study  of  the  Fathers  next  to  the  holy  Scrip 
tures  ;  and  more  especially  of  the  writers  of  the 
three  first  centuries ;  and  likewise  acquainteth  him, 
that  he  had  been  advised  to  this  method  of  reading, 
by  a  very  great  man  in  the  church,  who  had  ad 
monished  him  to  lay  the  foundation  of  his  theologi 
cal  studies  after  that  manner,  and  so  to  read  down 
wards  ;  whose  memory  was  had  in  great  honour  by 
him.  He  leaves  us  to  guess  who  this  great  man  was, 
because  he  doth  not  name  him,  though  it  is  probable, 
that  it  was  either  bishop  Pearson  or  bishop  Nichol 
son  ;  but  whoever  gave  the  advice,  he  reckoneth  it 
the  happiest  he  ever  did  receive;  and  he  wisheth 
that  he  might  be  but  worthy  to  prevail  on  the  can 
didates  of  divinity  in  Oxford  to  follow  the  same 
method. 

The  Greek       Then  he  giveth  the  history  of  the  consent  of  the 

Fathers  fa-  Fathers,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  in  favour  of  his  in- 

S'jtater-  terPretation   down   to  St.  Augustin ;    and    sheweth, 

pretation.    that  if  any  of  these  speak  of  justification  as  by  faith 

alone,  they  never  once  take  it  for  faith  simply  and 

abstractedly  considered,  but  only  as  it  is  perfectly 

formed  and  animated  ;   and  so  not  separated  from 

inward  contrition  and  charity ;  and  as  the  same  is 

opposed  either  to  external  works  in  general,  and  the 

actual  righteousness  of  such ;  or  to  the  works  of  the 

law  of  nature,  performed  before  and   without    the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  205 

knowledge,  faith,  and  grace  of  the  Gospel ;  or  to  the  1675. 
works  of  the  Mosaical  law ;  or  to  any  others  wrought 
from  a  principle  of  merit  in  the  creature.  And  be 
cause  Dr.  Tully  professeth  so  high  an  esteem  for 
St.Augustin,  as  to  prefer  him  to  all  antiquity,  our 
apologist  concludeth  his  catalogue  of  the  Fathers 
with  him,  and  clearly  proveth  that  Father  to  be  of 
his,  and  not  of  the  doctor's  mind ;  and  this  not  only 
from  some  scattered  passages  in  him,  but  from  the 
whole  design  of  his  book,  De  Fide  et  Opcribus,  where 
of  an  account  is  here  given.  Thus  having  done  with 
the  Fathers, 

He  proceedeth  next  to  examine  the  ^judgment  of  Hisanswer 
the  Church  of  England,  and  how  truly  this  is  repre-  judgment 
sented  by  his  adversary.     And  though  he  had  abun-  Church  of 
dantly  before  explained  himself  on  this  head,  yet  this  ^Jfjj^' 
being  a  very  tender  point,  and  so  eagerly  pressed  by  foreign 

,  .         ,  reformed. 

every  one  that  had  appeared  against  him,  but  most 
of  all  by  this  last  answerer,  Mr.  Bull  found  himself 
under  a  necessity  of  omitting  nothing  that  could  tend 
to  clear  him  from  that  aspersion,  which  was  likely 
to  prejudice  people's  minds  most  against  him,  and 
most  sensibly  to  affect  him  and  his  ministry.  Where 
fore  he  is  very  large  and  particular  in  defending  the 
true  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  in 
refuting  the  doctor's  allegations  against  him,  from 
the  Articles  and  the  Homilies.  After  which,  he 
examineth  also  with  great  accuracy,  the  judgment 
of  the  foreign  reformed  churches,  by  their  several 
Confessions :  and  he  is  very  full  in  vindicating  the 
Confession  of  Augsburgh,  which  he  had  styled  the 
most  noble  of  all  the  reformed  churches  ;  and  shewing 

c  Apol.  sect.  v. 


206  THE  LIFE  OF 

1675  how  it  was  followed  by  our  first  reformers,  and  par- 
~  ticularly  by  them  in  compiling  our  Articles.  Nor 
doth  he  omit  any  thing  considerable,  that  could  be 
said  upon  the  head  of  all  the  rest  of  the  Confessions, 
to  prove  that  they  taught,  that  besides  faith  true 
repentance  was  moreover  necessary  for  the  obtaining 
remission  of  sins  and  justification.  Where  the  words 
of  the  noble  Confession  of  Strasburg,  which  had  been 
misinterpreted  by  his  adversary,  are  by  him  chal 
lenged  ;  and  some  passages  which  had  been  cited 
from  others  very  much  illustrated. 

Dr.  Tally  XLV.  And  having  fully  justified  the  conformity 
with  seve-  of  his  doctrine  to  the  determination  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  to  that  of  the  other  reformed  churches, 
he  goeth  on  to  shew,  that  his  learned  adversary  hath 
in  several  points  contradicted  both.  By  which  he  is 
led  into  the  consideration  of  several  other  matters  of 
the  greatest  moment,  which  are  here  distinctly  and 
fundamentally  handled  ;  and  the  true  catholic  doc 
trine  stated  and  vindicated,  in  opposition  to  certain 
novel  opinions.  More  particularly,  he  chargeth  his 
adversary  with  maintaining  these  four  heterodoxies 
among  others  ;  1st,  That  d  repentance  is  no  ways 
necessary  for  obtaining  the  first  justification,  or  par 
don  for  sin.  e  2d,  That  our  justification,  being  once 
obtained  by  faith  alone,  the  continuation  of  it  doth 
not  depend  upon  the  condition  of  good  works,  to  be 
performed  by  us  for  the  time  to  come.  3d,  fThat  a 
man,  being  once  endowed  with  justifying  faith,  can 
never  afterwards  so  far  fall  from  it  as  to  be  lost  for 
ever.  4th,  « That  Christ  did  only  satisfy  and  offer 

''  Apol.  sect.  vii.  n.  2.  f  Apol.  vii.  n.  7 — 23. 

e  N.  6.  g  N.  24.  &c. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  207 

himself  upon  the  cross  for  the  sins  of  the  elect.    All     1675. 
which  positions  he  proveth  to  be  repugnant  to  the" 
clear  and  express  definitions  of  the  Church  of  Eng 
land,  and  of  other  reformed  churches,  and  indeed  of 
the  whole  catholic  church. 

And  whereas  Dr.  Tully  had  pretended,  that  the  Theancient 
harmonist  had  but  very  few  of  the  ancients  of  his  Mr.BulTs 
opinion,  as  to  his  interpretation  of  the  seventh  to  UpoTthe 
the  Romans ;  and  that  after  the  life  of  Pelao-ius,  all,sfve«thof 

o  '  the  Ko- 

or  almost  all  of  the  Fathers  were  express  against mans- 
him,  and  that  of  modern  divines,  he  had  not  above 
one  or  two  of  any  eminency  for  him  ;  Mr.  Bull  hath 
proved,  that  besides  Irenseus,  Tertullian,  Cyprian, 
Macarius,  Origen,  Basil,  Cyril,  Chrysostom,  Theo- 
doret,  and  as  many  more  that  had  been  cited  by 
Vossius  and  other  learned  men,  for  this  interpreta 
tion  of  his  ;  there  were  six  other  illustrious  testimo 
nies,  which  he  himself  had  discovered,  viz.,  Justin 
Martyr,  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Marcus  Eremita, 
Dorotheus,  Pacianus  and  Ennodius.  Then  he  shew- 
eth,  that  the  interpretation  of  some  of  the  moderns, 
espoused  by  his  adversary,  is  very  far  from  the 
sense  and  mind  of  St.  Augustin  himself,  whom  they 
so  much  seem  to  depend  on  :  as  also  that  the 
Greek  fathers  and  doctors,  even  after  St.  Augustin 
and  Pelagius,  did  constantly  adhere  to  the  interpre 
tation  received  and  approved  in  the  catholic  church ; 
yea,  that  even  all  the  Latin  Fathers  after  that 
time,  did  still  persist  in  the  ancient  and  primitive 
exposition  of  St.  Paul.  And  among  the  moderns, 
Mr.  Bull  produceth  both  of  the  Romanists  and  of 
the  foreign  protestants,  that  were  eminent,  a  consider 
able  number  for  his  opinion,  besides  Dr.  Jackson, 


208  THE  LIFE  OF 

l675-  Dr.  Hammond,  bishop  Taylor,  and  others  of  our 
own  countrymen  :  afterwards  he  answers  several 
objections  of  his  adversary,  particularly  that  his  in 
terpretation  was  not  conformable  to  the  doctrine  of 
our  church.  And  whereas  it  was  urged,  that  there 
was  a  great  agreement  between  the  Harmonists  and 
the  Romanist's  doctrine  of  justification ;  that  objec 
tion  is  retorted  in  this  Apology  upon  the  accusers : 
and  it  is  herein  shewn,  that  the  doctor's  opinion  doth 
perfectly  harmonize  with  the  popish  one,  established 
in  the  council  of  Trent,  which  will  not  have  true 
contrition  of  sins  to  be  necessary  for  justification, 
and  which  is  contended  for  in  opposition  to  the 
decree  of  that  council  by  our  apologist. 

1676.        XL VI.   In  the  year  1676,   there  was    published 

Mr.  Baxter  J 

aisoanswers  also  an  Answer  to  Dr.  Tully,  by  Mr.  Richard  Baxter, 
under  the  title  of,  A  Treatise  of  Justifying  Right 
eousness  :  in  two  books  ;  the  first  related  to  Imputed 
Righteousness,  and  with  an  Answer  to  Dr.  Tully  s 
Letter ;  the  second  contained,  A  friendly  Debate 
with  the  learned  and  worthy  Mr.  Christopher  Cart- 
wright  ;  containing,,  1.  His  Animadversions  on  my 
Aphorisms,  with  my  Answer.  2.  His  Exceptions 
against  that  Answer.  3.  My  Reply  to  the  Sum  of  the 
Controversies  agitated  in  those  Exceptions.  All  pub 
lished  instead  of  a  fuller  Answer  to  the  Assaults 
of  Dr.  Tully's  Justificatio  Paulina,  Lond.  8vo.  Of 
which  treatise  of  Dr.  Tully  he  sticketh  not  to  give 
this  character,  that  it  is  ^defective  in  point  of  truth, 
justice,  charity,  ingenuity,  and  pertinency  to  the 
matter.  Nevertheless  he  several  times  acknow- 
h  Part  i.  chap  6. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  209 

ledgeth  the  doctor  to  be  a  very  worthy  person,  and  1676. 
consequently  one,  that  could  not  willingly  be  guilty 
of  any  such  defect  as  he  is  here  charged  with.  And 
indeed,  it  was  the  unhappiness  both  of  Mr.  Baxter 
and  him,  that  they  gave  but  too  much  reason  for  the 
imputation,  under  which  they  both  equally  lay,  of 
being  angry  writers.  This  treatment  of  him  by 
Mr.  Baxter  I  the  rather  mention,  that,  if  some  things 
in  Mr.  Bull's  Apology  may  appear  a  little  too  severe 
upon  this  writer,  the  reader  may  easily  think  there 
was  some  occasion  for  it  more  than  could  have  been 
wished.  For  the  good  man  it  seems  had  represented 
to  himself  those  three,  Bull,  Bellarmin,  and  Baxter, 
as  the  three  great  adversaries  of  the  faith,  which 
was  professed  by  him,  and  which  he  verily  believed 
to  be  no  other  than  that  of  the  Church  of  England : 
and  thence  he  falleth  so  very  foul  upon  each  of  these, 
as  if  they  were  in  a  triple  league  together,  and  lay- 
eth  about  with  all  his  might  to  overthrow  what  he 
supposeth  to  have  been  designed  by  them,  against 
that  which  he  esteemed  as  the  very  Christian  palla 
dium,  and  is  by  him  'so  called.  The  first  and  last 
of  these  pleaded  their  own  cause,  as  we  have  seen  ; 
and  not  without  success,  especially  the  first ;  so  only 
Bellarmin  is  left  to  shift  for  himself,  who,  after  all, 
wrote  notwithstanding  on  this  subject  with  more 
moderation  than  most  of  his  communion,  or  he  him 
self  who  formed  the  charge  against  him,  and  who  for 
certain  was  dragged  into  the  controversy,  only  for 
the  sake  of  the  other  two. 

There  was  also  another  answer,  about  the  same  "««' M „ 

lombes 

time,  to  Mr.  Bull's  Harmonia,  written  in  Latin  byanimad- 

»  Justif.  Paulin. 
P 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  John  Tombes,  B.  D.  who  hath  been  before  mention- 
verted  upon  ed  ;  of  which  I  find  very  little  notice  to  have  been 
u11'  taken,  though  some  kwill  have  it  that  there  were 
few  better  disputants  in  his  age  than  he  was ;  and  it 
is  certain,  that  he  had  studied  this  controversy  for 
some  time  before,  both  in  his  debates  with  the  an- 
tinomians,  and  those  which  he  had  with  the  'great 
est  opposer  of  them  among  the  presbyterians.  For 
he  had,  near  about  twenty  years  before,  written  also 
in  Latin  msome  Animadversions  upon  Mr.  Baxter's 
Aphorisms  concerning  Justification ;  and  had,  on 
the  other  hand,  preached  likewise  in  London,  before 
an  eminent  congregation,  several  sermons  against 
Dr.  Crisp,  and  certain  dangerous  mistakes  and  mis 
applications  of  the  protestant  doctrine  of  justifi 
cation.  Mr.  Baxter,  it  seemeth,  printed  these  anim 
adversions  of  his  adversary,  but  without  acquaint 
ing  him  first  therewith,  and  replied  to  them.  This 
dealing,  Mr.  Tombes,  being  thereby  prevented  from 
explaining  himself  farther  as  he  had  intended,  hath 
"complained  of  as  hard;  even  as  Mr.  Baxter  hath 
done  of  Dr.  Tully :  and  hereupon  he  drew  out  all 
his  artillery  against  Mr.  Bull,  whom  he  considered  as 
an  enemy  of  greater  weight,  and  one  from  whom  he 
might  expect  also  other  treatment ;  and  therefore 
was  resolved  to  make  his  last  effort  now  upon  one, 
that  was  esteemed  the  most  perfect  master  in  con 
troversy,  and  who  had  brought  together  the  whole 
strength  of  the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged,  with 
all  the  management  and  learning  that  could  set  it 

k  Athen.  Oxon.         ]  Ed.  Calam.  Abridgment  of  Mr.  Baxter's 
Life,  chap.  ix.  "'  Auimaclversiones  quaedam  in  Aphorismos 

Richardi  Baxteri  de  Justificatione,  1658.  l!  Epist.  Ded.  ad 

Auimad.  in  Lib.  G.  Bulli,  &c. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  211 

oft' to  the  best  advantage.     Besides,  ho  took  this  oc-     1676. 
casion  of  farther  clearing  and  justifying  what  he  had" 
written    against   the  aphorist,  before  Dr.  Tully   en 
tered  the  lists  against  him  :  arid  of  giving  the  world 
his   second  and  more  correct  thoughts  upon  these 
nice  points,  so  controverted  by  protestants  and  pa 
pists  among  themselves.     It  is  also  very  probable, 
that  he  did  not  find  that  satisfaction  in  Dr.  Tully' s 
answer  to  Mr.  Bull,  this  having  been  out  then  above 
a  year,  which  he  first  looked  for :  and  that  he  was 
still  more  dissatisfied  with  the  answer  of  Mr.  Tru 
man,  whose  principles  were  not  a  little  different  from 
his.    As  for  the  animadversions  of  the  younger  Gata- 
ker,  he  could  not  have  seen  them,  they  not  being 
printed  till  his  own  were  in  the  press  :  and  if  he  had 
seen  and  read  them,  it  cannot  be  thought  that  he 
would   have  been    diverted  by  any  thing   in   them 
from   undertaking  a   labour  which   lay  so   near  his 
heart,  and  whence  he  promised  himself  so  great  a 
triumph.     But  he  was  now  grown  old,  and  not  the 
man   he  formerly  had   been,  whatsoever   he  might 
think  of  himself,  or  what  assurance  soever  he  might 
have  of  victory,  as  an  advocate  for  the  first  reform 
ers,  as  he  would  be  thought  to  be.     For  it  was  evi 
dently  a  weakness  in  him,  at  threescore  and  twelve 
years  of  age,  when  he  was  quite  worn  out,  and  just 
ready  to  drop  into  his  grave,  to  begin  a  new  combat, 
unprovoked,   and   because,   about  twenty  or    thirty 
years  before,  when  he  was  in  the  full  vigour  both  of 
body  and  mind,  he  had  been  successful  enough  in 
engaging    with     an    adversary    visibly    inferior    in 
strength,   to  undertake  now,  in  his  latter  days,  to 
grapple  with  an  enemy  every  way  his  superior,  an 
exact  master  in  the  arts  of  this  sort  of  war,  and  one 

p  2 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  so  extraordinarily  accomplished  besides,  both  by  ex 
perience  and  study,  for  maintaining  and  defending 
this  particular  cause  dependent  betwixt  them,  as 
our  Mr.  Bull  was,  even  beyond  some  who  otherwise 
might  be  his  rivals  in  learning  ;  he  being  then  also 
in  the  very  prime  and  fulness  of  strength,  and  every 
way  qualified  for  such  labours  as  these  of  the  mind. 
The  old  man,  zealous  however  for  his  cause,  pub 
lished  at  London  his  book  against  Mr.  Bull,  just  at 
the  very  same  time  that  Mr.  Bull's  justification  of 
himself,  and  his  work  against  Mr.  Gataker  and  Dr. 
Tully,  came  forth.  But  this  did  him  no  harm  at  all ; 
for  he  had  so  fully  already  removed  all  the  material 
objections  of  Mr.  Tombes,  in  his  answers  to  the  stric 
tures  of  those  two  learned  Calvinian  divines,  and  so 
clearly  demonstrated  the  weakness  of  their  founda 
tion,  that  there  needed  no  farther  apology  to  be 
made  for  his  book  and  himself,  against  such  an  hy 
pothesis  as  could  be  not  better  defended  by  the 
great  learning  of  its  supporters.  Mr.  Tombes's  book 
was  called,  °  Animadversions  upon  a  book  of  George 
Butt's,  which  lie  hath  entitled,  The  Apostolical, 
Harmony.  According  to  the  title-page,  it  should 
have  been  published  in  1676,  but  Mr.  Bull  had  seen 
a  printed  copy  of  it  before  the  end  of  1675,  when  he 
was  concluding  his  general  preface  to  his  two  apo- 
logetical  treatises  aforenamed,  so  that  the  edition  of 
it  must  have  been  in  Michaelmas  term  of  this  last 
year,  and  about  half  a  year  before  the  author's 
death. 

This  Mr.  Tombes,  our  author's  last  adversary,  as 


0  Animadversiones  in  Librum   Georgii  Bulli,  cui  titulum  fecit 
Harmonia  Apostolica,  &c. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  213 

to  his  cause,  were  it  not  for  some  notions  which  he     '676. 


fell  into  against  the  catholic  practice  and  doctrine  of  An  account 
the  church,  such  as  men  of  learning  in  the  several 
communions  could  by  no  means  approve  of,  and 
which  particularly  Mr.  Bull  was  averse  to  in  the ter- 
highest  degree,  he  might  possibly  have  preserved  a 
reputation  among  the  learned,  not  inferior  to  many  of 
his  age.  He  was  educated  at  Oxford,  in  Magdalen 
hall,  under  the  famous  Mr.  William  Pemble,  author 
of  VindicifB  Gratis,  and  of  several  other  learned 
treatises,  whom  he  succeeded  in  the  catechetical  lec 
ture  of  the  said  hall  :  and  approved  himself  an  excel 
lent  disputant,  and  no  bad  divine  upon  the  principles 
of  the  anti-remonstrants,  which  were  then  much  in 
fashion.  It  cannot  be  denied,  but  that  he  was  es 
teemed  a  person  of  incomparable  parts:  and  there 
fore  was  chosen  lecturer  in  this  hall,  upon  his  tutor's 
decease,  when  he  was  yet  but  one-and-twenty  years 
old,  and  of  six  years  standing  only  in  the  university. 
Which  lecture  he  held  for  about  seven  years ;  and 
then  left  Oxford,  and  went  to  Worcester  first,  and 
after  that  to  Lemster  in  Herefordshire ;  at  both 
which  places  he  made  himself  very  popular  by  his 
preaching.  But  having  no  preferment  bestowed 
upon  him,  as  some  will  have  it,  suitable  to  his  merit, 
it  is  thought  he  became  uneasy  to  see  himself  so 
much  neglected :  and  thence  made  himself  to  be 
suspected  as  a  person  inclined  to  the  puritans;  or 
not  so  rightly  affected  at  least  to  the  church  esta 
blished,  as  by  his  education  he  ought  to  have  been. 
Which  suspicion  increased  more  and  more  concern 
ing  him,  as  the  faction  against  church  and  state  grew 
stronger :  and  having  acquired  no  small  reputation 
in  the  place  where  he  lived,  for  a  more  powerful 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  way  of  preaching  than  ordinary,  as  all  prospect  of 
"advancement  in  the  church  was  now  taken  from 
him,  he  was  the  more  disposed  to  follow  the  stream 
of  the  times,  and  the  growing  interest  of  a  party, 
pretending  to  a  greater  purity  of  reformation,  both  in 
faith,  and  worship,  and  manners  ;  and  more  espe 
cially,  since  by  such  as  these,  he  was  chiefly  crowded 
after  and  applauded.  It  was  about  the  year  1630, 
that  he  began  to  be  famous  in  the  city  of  Worcester, 
and  in  1641,  he  had  the  living  of  All-Saints  in  Bris 
tol  given  him  by  Fiennes,  who  managed  that  city  for 
the  parliament,  where  he  continued  till  1643,  when 
the  city  was  surrendered  to  the  king's  party ;  sowing 
in  that  time  the  seeds  of  some  of  those  opinions 
wherewith  that  city  so  abounded  when  Mr.  Bull  first 
came  into  the  neighbourhood  of  it.  Afterwards 
going  to  London,  he  became  Master  of  the  Temple; 
where  he  preached  against  the  antinomians,  as  be 
says  in  his  epistle  dedicatory  before  his  Animadver 
sions  upon  the  Harmonia,  with  a  design  to  shew 
how  their  errors  did  proceed  from  a  misunderstand 
ing  of  the  doctrine  of  the  justification  of  a  sinner. 
He  continued  in  this  place  about  four  years,  when 
he  was  supplanted  by  one  Johnson.  After  this  he 
went  to  Bewdley  in  Worcestershire,  at  which  time 
Mr.  Baxter  was  minister  of  Kidderminster,  another 
market  town,  about  three  miles  distant  from  that 
place,  being  very  much  followed.  They  preached 
against  one  another's  doctrines,  and  published  books 
against  each  other.  Tombes  was  the  head  of  the 
anabaptists,  and  Baxter  of  the  presbyterians :  the 
victory,  as  it  is  usual,  was  claimed  by  both  sides : 
but  some  of  the  learned,  who  were  affected  to  neither 
of  them,  yielded  the  advantage  both  of  learning  and 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  «15 

argument  to  the  former,  while  yet  they  were  as  far  1676. 
from  approving  his  cause,  as  even  Mr.  Baxter  him 
self  could  be.  Certain  it  is,  that  his  doctrine  did 
spread  mightily  in  a  little  time,  a  considerable  num 
ber  both  of  presbyterians  and  independents  being 
brought  over  by  him.  In  1653,  being  in  London,  he 
was  appointed  one  of  the  triers  of  public  ministers. 
About  the  same  time  he  got  likewise  the  parsonage 
of  Rosse,  and  the  mastership  of  the  hospital  in  Led- 
bury,  both  in  Herefordshire ;  which  he  kept  with 
Lemster  and  Bewdley.  At  the  restoration  of  king 
Charles  the  Second,  when  he  saw  and  considered  to 
what  a  woful  condition  this  poor  kingdom  had  been 
brought,  under  the  pretext  of  religion  and  liberty, 
by  restless  spirits,  being  willing  to  take  this  for  a 
providential  determination,  he  quietly  and  readily 
submitted  himself  to  the  royal  party,  and  resolved 
to  live  peaceably  for  the  future,  under  the  legal 
establishment  of  the  church,  by  conforming  himself  to 
it  as  a  lay-communicant :  but  would  never  accept 
either  benefice  or  dignity,  which  was  offered  him. 
And  to  justify  his  conformity,  and  to  excite  others 
to  follow  his  example,  he  writ  a  book,  called  Theo- 
dulia,  or  A  just  defence  of  hearing  the  Sermons 
and  other  Teaching  of  the  present  Ministers  of  the 
Church  of  England;  against  a  Book,  unjustly  en 
titled,  (in  Greek,)  A  Christian  Testimony  against 
them  that  serve  the  Image  of  the  Beast.  Loud. 
1667.  Nevertheless,  he  continued  in  his  judgment 
as  much  an  anti-paxlobaptist  as  ever.  The  Oxford 
biographer,  who  is  never  to  be  suspected  of  partiality 
for  any  persons  puritanically  inclined,  saith  of  him, 
"  That,  set  aside  his  anabaptistical  positions,  he 
"  was  conformable  enough  to  the  church,  would 


216  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  "  frequently  go  to  common  prayer,  and  receive  the 
~  "  sacrament  at  Salisbury,  and  often  visit  Dr.  Ward, 
'*  bishop  of  that  place,  who  respected  him  for  his 
"  learning."  And  the  abridger  of  Mr.  Baxter's  life, 
notwithstanding  that  he  created  Mr.  Baxter  the 
most  trouble  of  any,  or  all  his  adversaries,  yet  repre- 
senteth  him  under  the  character  of  one,  whom  all 
the  world  must  own  "  to  have  been  a  very  consider- 
"  able  man,  and  an  excellent  scholar,  how  disinclined 
"  soever  they  may  be  to  his  particular  opinions." 
The  most  learned  and  judicious  bishop  Sanderson 
had  a  great  esteem  for  him  ;  as:  had  also  one  of  his 
successors,  bishop  Barlow.  It  was  his  good  fortune 
to  marry  a  rich  widow  in  Salisbury,  not  long  before 
the  king's  return  ;  by  whom  enjoying  an  estate,  he 
lived  chiefly  there  till  his  death,  which  happened  at 
that  place  in  1676,  aged  73  years. 

The  charge      XL  VII.  Iii  the  year  1680.  Dr.  Lewis  du  Moulin, 

of  Dr.  Lewis  J 

du  Moulin,  son  of  the  famous  Peter  du  Moulin,  a  violent  inde- 


Mr.  pendent,  came  forth  with  a  virulent  pamphlet  against 
prindpieshistbe  Church  of  England,  called  A  short  and  true  Ac 
count  of  the  several  Advances  the  Church  of  EIJO-- 

17  O 

land  hath  made  towards  Rome  :  or  a  Model  of  the 
Grounds,  upon  which  the  Papists,  for  these  hun 
dred  Years,  have  built  their  Hopes  and  Expecta 
tions,  that  England  would  ere  long  return  to  Popery, 
Loud.  1680,  4to.  In  which  pamphlet,  he  falleth 
hard  upon  the  principles  and  opinions  advanced  by 
Mr.  Bull,  and  other  eminent  divines  of  the  Church 
of  England,  especially  Dr.  Stillingfleet,  afterwards 
bishop  of  Worcester,  and  Dr.  Patrick,  afterwards  bi 
shop  of  Ely  :  and  greatly  commendeth  the  industry 
and  zeal  of  Dr.  Tully  and  Dr.  Barlow  at  Oxford,  as 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  217 

the  two  principal  persons,  who  did  keep  that  uni-  1676. 
versity  from  being  poisoned  with  Pelagianism,  So- 
cittianism,  and  Popery.  This  was  despised  as  it 
deserved  by  Mr.  Bull.  But  soon  after,  there  came 
out  an  answer  to  this  book,  with  the  title  of,  A  lively 
picture  of  Lewis  du  Moulin,  drawn  by  the  incomparable 
hand  of  Mr.  Daillc.  And  Dr.  du  Moulin  not  long 
surviving  after  this  retracted  upon  his  deathbed  all 
the  personal  reflections,  which  in  his  book  he  had 
made  upon  any  divine  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 
ordered  this  his  retractation  to  be  made  public  after 
his  death.  Which  was  accordingly  published  under 
this  title,  viz.,  The  last  Words  of  Dr.  Lewis  du  Moulin, 
being  his  Retractation  of  all  the  personal  Reflections 
he  had  made  on  the  Divines  of  the  Church  of  England, 
in  several  of  his  Books :  signed  by  himself,  on  the 
5th  and  17th  of  October,  1680,  London.  Neverthe 
less,  without  the  knowledge  of  his  wife  or  other 
relations,  (as  is  said,)  there  was  published  after  his 
death  a  continuation  of  the  aforesaid  libel,  entitled, 
An  additional  Account  of  the  Church  of  England's 
Advances  towards  Popery.  For  it  seems,  that  the 
solifidian  doctrine  was  by  a  great  many  looked  on 
as  the  main  pillar  of  the  protestant  religion,  which 
being  once  shaken,  they  thought  there  could  be 
no  possibility  for  it  to  bear  up  its  head  against 
popery,  or  to  justify  the  proceedings  of  Luther, 
and  the  other  first  reformers.  This  was  plainly  in 
sinuated  in  several  books  about  this  time  published  ; 
and  none  stood  more  exposed  to  this  censure  than 
the  treatises  of  our  author,  "which  continuing  to 
prevail  more  and  more,  it  is  no  wonder  some  angry 
books  were  written  by  the  hot  Calvinists,  tending  to 
create  a  suspicion  of  the  clergy  and  universities  of 


218  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  this  kingdom,  as  if  they  were  advancing  apace  to 
~  Rome,  while  they  were  for  paying  a  greater  deference 
to  the  first  writers  of  Christianity,  than  to  any  of  the 
sixteenth  century  whatsoever.  Mr.  Bull  was  looked 
upon  to  have  mainly  contributed  to  infect  the  uni 
versity  of  Oxford,  by  his  writings,  with  such  doctrines  : 
but  he  had  so  fully,  yea  so  abundantly  vindicated 
himself,  by  his  learned  and  judicious  Apology  against 
Dr.  Tully,  that  nothing  could  be  more  unfair,  than  an 
accusation  of  such  a  nature  as  this,  after  he  had  been 
so  well  justified  from  it  P. 

Theconciu-  Thus  I  have  endeavoured  to  present  the  reader 
cwuro-  1S  with  an  impartial  account  of  this  whole  controversy 
reiated'tlT  concerning  justification,  as  it  was  managed  betwixt 


Mr.  Bull's  jyjr  guu    an(j    his    learned    adversaries  :   wherein   I 

Harmoma 

.  have  recited  matters  and  arguments  on  both  sides 
as  an  historian,  and  have  not  willingly  concealed  any 
thing  which  might  make  for  them  or  against  him. 
This  hath  insensibly  drawn  me  out,  by  the  great 
variety  of  incidents,  much  further  than  ever  I  could 
have  imagined  at  first.  But  if  hereby  the  truth  shall 
appear,  to  indifferent  and  unprejudiced  persons,  to 
be  set  in  its  just  light,  it  will  be  satisfaction  enough 
for  the  pains  that  have  been  taken,  to  make  such 
a  thorough  search  as  was  necessary,  in  order  to 
this.  The  schemes  of  the  several  writers  have  been 
for  this  end  here  represented  ;  the  grounds,  occasion, 
and  method  of  their  writing,  historically  related  ;  an 

P  [The  Harmonia  was  also  attacked  by  M.  de  Marets,  a  French 
man,  in  his  Sy  sterna  Theologies,  printed  at  Groningen,  in  which 
he  says,  "  that  the  author,  (Bull,)  though  a  professed  priest  of 
"  the  Church  of  England,  was  more  addicted  to  the  Papists, 
"  Remonstrants,  and  Socinians,  than  to  the  orthodox  party." 
Wood.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL. 

abstract  given  also  of  the  most  considerable  of  their  1676. 
pleas,  whether  from  Scripture,  reason,  or  antiquity, 
with  some  account  of  their  persons  and  characters. 
This  was  in  a  manner  necessary,  that  a  clear  and 
full  view  might  be  had  at  once  of  so  intricate  a 
dispute  about  these  arduous  points :  and  that  the 
sagacity  and  solidity  of  Mr.  Bull  might  more  con 
spicuously  be  displayed,  by  allowing  to  his  enemies 
all  the  advantage  that  could  fairly  be  done ;  and  that 
the  invincible  strength  of  reasoning,  wherewith  the 
God  of  truth  had  endowed  him,  might  break  forth 
with  more  lustre,  through  the  many  and  fierce  oppo 
sitions  which  for  a  time  were  made  against  him. 
For  the  names  of  Gataker,  Truman,  and  Tully,  have 
by  their  unsuccessful  attacks  served  but  to  render 
that  of  BULL  the  more  celebrated.  And  as  to  this 
last  animadverter,  forasmuch  as  his  principles  were, 
as  to  this  head,  the  same  as  those  with  Dr.  Tully, 
his  method  with  that  of  Gataker,  and  his  arguments 
with  those  of  one  or  the  other  of  these ;  and  foras 
much  as  Mr.  Bull  did  not  think  his  book  consider 
able  enough  to  deserve  any  answer,  after  he  had  so 
fully  replied  to  the  other  two  ;  there  was  no  need 
to  insist  at  all  upon  what  was  urged  by  him  over 
again.  I  shall  also  pass  over  what  several  excellent 
writers,  and  eminent  preachers  in  our  church,  have 
taken  up,  both  in  their  writing  and  preaching  on  the 
covenant  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  methods  of  arriving 
at  eternal  happiness,  from  the  rich  treasury  of  our 
author,  who  seemeth  indeed  to  have  exhausted  this 
subject ;  and  shall  proceed. 

XLA^III.  Now  at  the  very  same  time  that  this  con-  The  sam 
troversy  was  agitated  in  the  church,  it  was  carried 


220  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.    also  among  the  dissenters  with  no  small  warmth. 


carried  on  By  which  means  the  state  of  the  case  became 
somewhat  altered  from  what  it  would  otherwise 
have  been,  had  Mr.  Bull  alone  been  considered 
as  principal  in  it.  And  there  were  three  chief 
heads  of  difficulty  in  determining  this  matter,  which 
mightily  puzzled  them,  which  side  soever  they  took ; 
namely,  the  reconciliation  of  divine  prescience  with 
the  liberty  of  man's  will  in  his  conversion,  and' 
subsequent  justification  ;  the  determination  of  the 
manner  and  measure  of  the  operation  of  God's  grace 
with  and  upon  the  human  will ;  and  the  way  how 
to  attribute  all  our  good  to  God,  and  all  our  evil  to 
ourselves.  Mr.  Baxter  and  Mr.  Truman,  who  went 
both  the  same  way,  thought  they  were  able  easily 
to  solve  these  difficulties  by  the  help  of  their  me 
thod  :  but  others  of  the  dissenting  ministers  would 
by  no  means  subscribe  to  what  was  advanced  by 
these  ;  and  thought  the  difficulties  still  to  remain  as 
great  as  they  were  at  first.  And  there  was  a  book  of 
Aphorisms,  written  by  Mr.  Baxter,  which  made  as 
much  stir  among  them,  as  the  Harmonia,  written 
by  Mr.  Bull,  did  among  us :  wherefore  the  name 
of  Aphorista  is  always  given  to  the  first  of  these, 
as  well  as  that  of  Harmonista  to  the  second,  by 
Dr.  Tully,  in  his  censure  of  both  these  writers. 
The  Aphorisms  of  Mr.  Baxter  had  been  excepted 
against,  at  their  first  coming  out,  by  several  learned 
men  :  they  were  answered  by  Mr.  John  Crandon 
of  Fowley  in  Hampshire,  in  a  book  which  he  in 
scribed,  Mr.  Baxter's  Aphorisms  exorcised  1 ;  and 
by  Mr.  William  Eyre  of  Salisbury,  in  his  Vindidte 

(l   [Published  in  1654.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  221 

Justificationis  Gratidtte1'.  Besides  which,  they  were  1676. 
occasionally  animadverted  upon  by  Dr.  John  Wallis, 
Mr.  George  Lawson,  Mr.  John  Warren,  Mr.  Chris 
topher  Cartwright,  and  lastly,  by  Dr.  Thomas  Tully. 
Some  of  these  wrote,  upon  the  motion  and  desire  of 
the  author  himself;  upon  which  he  published  his 
suspension  of  these  Aphorisms  ;  then  his  fuller  ex 
plication  and  defence  of  them,  in  his  Apology ;  and 
afterwards,  an  additional  explication  and  defence  of 
them,  both  in  his  Confession  of  Faith,  and  in  his 
Disputations  of  Justification.  Many  papers  passed 
between  Mr.  Cartwright  and  him,  concerning  these 
Aphorisms :  which  were  also  defended  by  him 
against  the  other  animadverters,  but  more  particu 
larly  against  Grand  on  and  Eyre,  long  before  ever  he 
was  fallen  upon,  together  with  Mr.  Bull,  by  Dr. 
Tully.  This  controversy  was  long  afterwards  kept 
up  among  the  dissenters,  some  taking  the  part  of 
Mr.  Baxter,  but  others  violently  condemning  him  as 
a  favourer  of  the  Socinian  principles,  for  the  very 
same  reason  that  Mr.  Bull  was  suspected  by  some, 
even  because  he  exerted  himself  in  laying  open 
the  pernicious  consequences  of  the  antinomian 
scheme. 

Some  time  after  this,  Mr.  Daniel  Williams,  now  The  case  of 

,.    .     .  ,  Dr.  Wil- 

a  doctor  in  divinity,  and  an  eminent  preacher  and  Hams,  a- 
writer  in  this  city,  among  the  presbyterians,  made  dbnnteni 
himself  famous  for  managing  the  controversy  against  ab"ut  thf 

»       o  antinomian 

the  antinomian  principles,  when  they  were  break- contr°- 

.   versy. 
ing  in  with  great  impetuosity  among  those  of  his 

persuasion  ;  and  who  hath  thereby  been  very  ser 
viceable,   in  reclaiming   great   numbers    from    their 

r  [In  Latin  and  English,  1654.] 


222  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  absurd  and  false  notions,  concerning  the  Gospel  of 
our  Lord,  and  the  terms  of  salvation,  and  bringing 
them  to  a  right  sense  of  the  nature  of  his  satisfac 
tion,  and  our  justification  ;  even  as  Mr.  Bull  had 
done.  Dr.  Williams  ma)7  be  said  to  have  succeeded 
Mr.  Baxter  in  the  management  of  these  disputes, 
as  he  also  incurred  thereby  the  same  hard  censure 
from  some  of  his  own  brethren,  as  if  he  were  a 
maintainer  of  opinions  inconsistent  with  the  doc 
trine  of  Christ's  satisfaction,  and  so  had  given  up 
the  cause  to  the  Socinians.  And  as  Mr.  Bull  and 
Mr.  Baxter  had  before  suffered  in  this  cause,  so  it 
fell  also  to  the  lot  of  this  last  advocate  for  the  truth 
to  suffer  in  like  manner ;  and  as  many  as  were  of 
his  judgment  also,  to  be  charged  together  with  him, 
for  abetting  Pelagianism,  Socinianism,  and  Armin- 
ianism. 

Theocca-  The  occasion  now  which  engaged  him  in  this 
engaged  controversy,  after  that  it  seemed  to  have  been  laid 
contro-1  'S  asleep,  was  this  ;  Dr.  Crisp's  book,  the  fountain  of 
Rjj  these  errors,  was  by  his  son,  Mr.  Samuel  Crisp, 
reprinted  in  or  about  the  year  1690s,  when  the  So- 
cinian  controversy  was  here  very  hotly  agitated, 
with  additions,  and  with  the  names  of  several  of  the 
presbyterian  and  independent  ministers  prefixed,  as 
approving  the  same.  By  the  means  of  this  book, 
thus  recommended  and  authorized,  the  poison  of 
antinomianism  soon  spread,  not  only  in  the  country, 
but  infected  this  great  city  to  that  degree,  that  the 

s  [Tobias  Crisp  was  a  puritan,  born  in  1600,  and  died  in  1642. 
He  published  fourteen  sermons,  with  the  title  of  Christ  alone  ex 
alted,  in  1643.  His  son  published  a  book  in  1691,  called  Christ 
made  Sin,  evinced  in  Defence  of  his  Father  Dr.  Tobias  Crisp's 
Sermons.^ 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  223 

more  sober  of  the  presbyterian  ministers  were  scarce  1676. 
able  to  preach  a  sermon,  wherein  either  hope  was 
asserted  by  conditional  promises,  or  the  fear  of  sin 
was  pressed  by  the  divine  threatenings,  but  they 
were  immediately  censured  and  condemned,  as  ene 
mies  of  Christ  and  of  free-grace ;  and  especially 
were  cried  out  against  violently  by  many  of  the 
anabaptists  and  independents.  Yea,  one  of  them 
preaching  at  Pinner's  hall,  that  repentance  was  ne 
cessary  to  the  remission  of  sins,  that  pulpit  was  soon 
filled  with  the  hardest  censures  against  the  presby- 
terians.  At  the  request  of  many  of  the  ministers  of 
that  persuasion,  Mr.  Williams  undertook  therefore 
to  confute  that  book,  which  was  the  chief  source  of 
this  evil.  This  he  did,  first  by  a  sermon  at  Pinner's- 
hall,  and  afterwards  by  a  book  called  Gospel  Truths 
stated  and  vindicated:  wherein  some  of  the  more 
dangerous  of  Dr.  Crisp's  opinions  were  considered, 
and  the  opposite  truths  plainly  stated  and  con 
firmed. 

His  method  is,  always  to  state  the  truth  and  the  His  method 
i    i      -,     i  i  in  this  con- 

error  upon  each  head,  then  to  prove  that  this  lasttroversy. 

was  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Crisp;  after  that,  to  shew 
wherein  the  difference  is  not;  and  this  being  done, 
to  declare  what  the  real  and  proper  difference  is. 
And  having  thus  explained  and  stated  the  case,  by 
preventing  several  mistakes,  and  determining  where 
in  the  real  difference  consisteth  between  the  con 
tending  parties,  his  way  is,  to  confirm  the  truth 
opposed  to  such  a  particular  error,  by  that  which  is 
owned  on  both  sides  for  the  rule  of  faith ;  then  to 
produce  corroborating  testimonies  from  the  approved 
catechisms  and  confessions  both  of  the  presbyterian 
and  independent  body,  as  of  the  general  assembly 


224  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  at  Westminster,  the  New-England  synod,  and  the 
congregational  elders  at  the  Savoy,  besides  those  of 
such  particular  writers  as  are  by  them  generally 
esteemed  most  orthodox  ;  and  lastly,  to  give  the 
ground  of  the  doctor's  mistake.  This  he  hath  done 
in  about  twenty  several  points,  with  much  plainness : 
and  it  cannot  be  made  appear,  after  all,  that  his 
adversaries  have  been  able  to  say,  that  he  hath  in 
any  of  them  misrepresented  Dr.  Crisp's  opinions,  or 
mistaken  his  sense ;  there  being  no  fairer  method 
than  that  which  he  hath  chosen. 

This  book  was  first  published  in  May  1692,  with 
the  approbation  of  Dr.  Bates,  Mr.  How,  Mr.  Alsop, 
Mr.  Showers,  and  a  dozen  more  of  the  dissenting 
ministers :  and  to  the  second  edition  of  it,  were 
added  the  names  of  double  the  number.  After 
which  came  forth  a  third  edition  of  the  same,  with 
other  names,  and  a  large  postscript,  for  clearing 
sundry  truths,  added  to  it.  But  Dr.  Chauncy,  and 
others  of  that  sort,  wrote  against  that  book,  in  vin 
dication  of  Dr.  Crisp,  denying  Gospel  threatenings, 
with  the  rest.  To  all  this,  the  reply  of  Mr.  Wil 
liams,  called  A  defence  of  Gospel  Truth,  was,  by 
the  ablest  judges,  thought  sufficient.  Notwithstand 
ing,  Mr.  Mather,  another  independent  preacher, 
published  a  sermon  about  justification,  wherein  he 
asserted,  that  believers  were  as  righteous  as  Christ 
himself;  that  the  covenant  of  grace  was  not  condi 
tional  :  with  other  dangerous  opinions  of  the  like 
stamp.  Him  also  this  author  answered,  by  a  book 
called,  Man  made  Righteous ;  wherein  he  treated 
of  the  Gospel-law,  the  mediating  suretyship  of  Christ, 
his  imputed  righteousness  how  consistent  with  faith 
and  repentance,  as  conditions  of  justification  ;  sin- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  225 

cere    persevering   holiness    and    obedience,  as   con-    1676. 


ditions  of  consummate  salvation,  and  this  by  the 
Gospel  constitution.  To  this  book  none  replied. 

There  was  also  a  paper,  signed  lay  Mr.  Griffith, 
and  several  others  of  the  eminent  independents, 
wherein  they  excepted  against  several  passages  in 
Gospel  Truth  stated,  besides  some  general  charges 
against  the  whole.  Which  paper  was  examined  by 
the  author,  in  his  postscript  to  the  third  edition 
thereof,  and  all  their  objections  fully  considered. 
But  whether  any  manner  of  answer  was  returned 
by  them  to  this  reply  of  his,  I  do  not  know ;  cer 
tain  it  is,  that  they  were  hard  put  to  it.  Hence 
Mr.  Stephen  Lob,  who  long  after  two  editions  of 
this  book,  had  so  acquitted  it  in  print,  as  to  adven 
ture  to  tell  the  world,  that  there  was  no  difference 
between  Mr.  Chauncy  and  Mr.  Williams,  when  after 
wards,  for  certain  purposes,  he  turned  an  objector 
against  it,  thought  fit  to  wave  all  the  former  excep 
tions  of  his  brethren,  in  that  paper  contained,  save 
one  or  two.  So  sensible  was  he,  that  the  author  of 
Gospel  Truth  had  been  too  hastily  charged  by 
them,  and  that  they  would  never  be  able  to  make 
good  their  objections:  and  therefore  he  thought  it 
convenient  and  prudent  to  drop  them  all  but  the 
first  and  the  last,  which  he  judged  more  defensible 
than  the  rest,  as  being  general  charges,  of  not  hav 
ing  always  rightly  stated  truth  and  error,  or  rightly 
interpreted  the  Scriptures. 

Mr.  Lob  then,  though  no  direct  antinomian,  yet  M|--  L<)t' 

c  starts  a  new 

willing    to    uphold    the    independent    party,   endea- controversy, 
voured  to  save  their  reputation,  by  starting  a  new 
controversy  about  commutation  of  persons  betwixt 
Christ   and   believers.     His  pretence  was,  that  Mr. 


226  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  Williams  must  deny  this,  which  by  all  the  orthodox 
"had  been  generally  acknowledged,  and  hardly  by 
any  disliked,  but  by  the  Socinians,  and  other  here 
tics  near  akin  to  them ;  because  he  had  denied 
what  Crisp  called,  a  change  of  person.,  (not  persons, 
in  the  plural,)  that  is,  a  change  of  condition  and 
state  between  Christ  and  a  sinner;  Christ  thereby 
becoming  as  sinful  as  we,  and  we  as  righteous  as  he. 
And  he  alleged,  that  Dr.  Stillingfleet,  the  bishop  of 
Worcester,  had,  in  his  most  learned  and  judicious 
Discourse,  concerning  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  Sa 
tisfaction,  with  Grotius,  expressly  affirmed  a  com 
mutation  of  persons,  and  irrefragably  proved  it  with 
the  common  sentiment  of  protestants. 

Mr.  w;i-  Upon  which  a  letter  was  sent  by  Mr.  Williams 
" es  to  the  bishop,  desiring  his  judgment  as  to  these 
three  questions;  1.  What  was  his  sense  of  commu 
tation  of  persons  ?  2.  Whether  the  author  of  Gospel 
Truth  stated  was  chargeable  with  Socinianism  ? 
And,  3.  Whether  Dr.  Crisp's  sense,  concerning  the 
change  of  person,  or  persons,  were  true  or  false? 
His  answer  to  which  he  therefore  insisted  on,  be 
cause  his  lordship's  book  was  pleaded  against  him. 
After  this,  Mr.  Lob  wrote  to  the  bishop,  acquainting 
him,  that  there  having  been  a  controversy  among 
the  dissenters,  about  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  satis 
faction,  some  of  the  most  eminent  among  them, 
such  as  Dr.  Bates,  Mr.  How,  &c.,  did,  in  a  paper 
sent  to  some  other  brethren  for  reconciliation,  men 
tion  his  lordship's  sense  about  the  asserting  a  com 
mutation  of  persons  between  Christ  and  believers, 
as  necessary  to  a  due  explanation  and  defence  of  the 
said  doctrine :  and  there  being,  on  the  other  hand, 
another  person  of  esteem  among  them  [meaning 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  227 

Mr.  Williams]  who  was  for  casting  off  the  phrase,    1676. 


of  a  change  of  person  between  Christ  and  us,  and 
for  allowing  only  a  change  of  persons,  in  the  sense 
understood  by  his  lordship,  namely,  a  substitution 
in  the  room  and  place  of  another;  his  lordship's 
judgment  being  therefore  referred  unto,  it  would  be 
in  him  a  most  Christian  part,  if  he  would  conde 
scend  to  give  them  his  impartial  thoughts  of  this 
point,  as  being  likely,  on  both  hands,  to  be  so 
received,  as  to  compose  the  differences  between 
them. 

But  before  this  letter  came  to  the  bishop,  he  had  The  bishop 
already  answered  Mr.  Williams,  as  to  the  three  w 
questions  proposed,  and  had  with  great  freedom  and 
impartiality,  as  well  as  with  singular  candour  and 
judgment,  after  he  had  perused  the  papers  on  both 
sides  which  came  to  his  hands,  given  his  sense  of 
the  things  which  are  mentioned  in  both  their  letters. 
This  letter  of  the  bishop's,  whereby  Mr.  Williams 
was  fully  vindicated,  was  printed  for  his  justification 
against  Mr.  Lob,  in  his  Answer  to  the  Report,  &c., 
which  the  united  ministers  appointed  their  com 
mittee  to  draw  up.  And  Mr.  Lob  could  not  but 
declare  himself,  upon  reading  it,  to  be  abundantly 
satisfied  with  what  the  bishop  had  writ  in  his  letter 
to  Mr.  Williams,  about  a  commutation  of  persons, 
the  guilt  of  sin,  and  his  confutation  of  Dr.  Crisp; 
only  he  wished  the  bishop's  information  had  been 
more  full.  The  bishop  having  answered  Mr.  Lob's 
first  letter,  and  therein  justified  again  Mr.  Williams 
from  the  heavy  imputations  against  him,  and  ex 
pressed  his  sincere  and  hearty  endeavours  for  pre 
venting  all  needless  as  well  as  dangerous  controver 
sies,  among  those  who  did  truly  own  the  doctrine 


228 
1676.    of  Christ's    satisfaction,    Mr.   Lob    replied    to    him 


in  a  second  letter,  thanking  him  for  the  favour  of 
his  answer,  and  informing  him  of  an  appeal  di 
rected  to  his  lordship,  which  he  was  preparing  for 
the  press. 

An  appeal  The  design  of  which  appeal  was,  that  the  bishop 
late  bishop  might  have  a  fuller  state  of  matters  in  controversy 
ter  by°Mr.  among  them,  and  so  might  be  more  able  to  put  an 
Lob.  encj  £O  their  differences,  in  a  point  so  perfectly  studied 
by  him.  The  bishop  was  therefore  made  acquainted 
by  Mr.  Lob,  that  some  sheets  of  his  were  almost 
ready  for  the  press,  giving  the  true  reasons  of  the 
dissatisfaction  of  some  among  them  with  Mr.  Wil 
liams,  which  were  intended  by  way  of  appeal,  to  be 
addressed  to  him ;  because  he  had  so  truly  stated 
their  true  sense  about  Christ's  satisfaction :  withal 
begging  to  know  his  lordship's  pleasure,  whether  he 
should  send  it  to  him  first  in  manuscript,  or  not  till 
printed.  The  bishop  answered  Mr.  Lob's  second 
letter  without  any  delay,  telling  him,  that  he  should 
be  glad  to  see  the  papers  he  made  mention  of  when 
they  should  be  printed,  but  that  he  would  not  have 
him  give  himself  the  trouble  to  send  them  before; 
for  since  they  related  to  matters  of  fact,  he  could  be 
no  competent  judge  of  them.  And  as  to  the  wish 
ing  he  had  received  fuller  information  of  some  mat 
ters,  the  bishop  told  him,  it  was  a  thing  out  of  his 
power;  and  that  he  could  only  judge  of  what  he 
had  seen.  At  the  same  time  the  bishop  justified 
Mr.  Williams  afresh,  as  to  his  orthodoxy  in  the  con 
troverted  points;  and  declaring  himself  very  well 
pleased,  to  find  that  Mr.  Lob  did  disown  Dr.  Crisp's 
antinomian  principles,  he  gave  both  him  and  his 
brethren  to  understand,  that  they  would  do  them- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL. 

selves  a  great  deal  of  right,  to  condemn  the  propo-  1676. 
sitions  which  they  insist  upon.  As  soon  therefore  as 
Mr.  Lob  had  printed  his  appeal,  he  sent  it  to  the 
bishop  of  Worcester,  to  be  by  him  considered, 
complimenting  him  in  the  beginning  of  it  with 
his  thanks,  not  only  for  what  related  to  the  article 
of  satisfaction,  but  for  his  confutation  of  Dr.  Crisp, 
and  intimating,  that  whereas  the  bishop  had  sus 
pected  a  fondness  for  that  doctor's  notions  lay  at 
the  bottom  of  all  these  heats,  the  condemning  the 
propositions  by  his  brethren,  (as  was  propounded 
by  the  bishop,)  would  evince  the  contrary.  But 
then  this  was  deferred,  till  satisfaction  should  be 
given  them,  as  to  what  Mr.  Williams  was  charged 
with. 

This  printed  appeal  of  Mr.  Lob  was  considered  The  appeal 
by  that  great  and  learned  prelate  with  an  amazing  by"theeie 
exactness,  as  one  who  was  a  perfect  master  of  theblshop' 
cause;  but  he  lived  not  to  finish  his  answer  to  it, 
which  he  undertook,  being  invited  both  by  the  ap 
peal  and  by  those  letters,  in  order  to  compose  those 
differences  among  the  united  and  dissenting  brethren 
which  related  to  the  Antinomian  and  Socinian  con 
troversies.  However,  he  hath  given  the  world  a 
true  state  of  both  these  controversies,  in  perfect 
agreement  with  the  principles  advanced  and  de 
fended  by  our  Mr.  Bull,  as  well  as  the  true  occasion 
of  the  late  differences  among  the  dissenters  about 
these.  Then  he  hath  so  laid  open  the  mystery  of 
antinomianism,  from  the  writings  of  Dr.  Crisp,  as 
if  he  had  studied  these  for  several  years  together. 
Moreover,  he  hath  so  explained  the  state  of  the 
Socinian  controversy,  with  respect  to  the  differences 
at  that  time  of  the  dissenters  about  it,  for  which  he 


230  THE  LIFE  OF 

,676.  was  appealed  to;  and  hath  so  fully  vindicated  both 
-  Mr.  Baxter  and  Mr.  Williams  from  the  charge  of 
yielding  too  much  to  the  Socinians;  as  that  reader 
must  be  very  partial  indeed,  who  will  not  own  that 
he  hath  done  justice  to  the  cause  which  was  referred 
to  him,  and  set  matters  in  a  much  clearer  light  than 
ever  they  were  before  in.  Now  Mr.  Lob  had  ex 
pressed  a  very  great  earnestness  to  have  the  bishop's 
judgment;  because  (he  said)  some  were  labouring  to 
make  Christ's  sufferings  so  merely  voluntary,  as  not 
to  be  penal,  or  not  properly  penal,  but  improperly 
and  materially  so,  and  our  sins  as  not  to  be  the 
impulsive  meritorious  cause  of  them.  The  bishop 
therefore,  in  answer  to  him,  hath  treated  distinctly 
and  clearly  about  Christ's  sufferings,  being  a  proper 
punishment  for  our  sins,  and  about  the  change  of 
persons  between  Christ  and  us,  and  his  suffering  in 
our  stead. 

Theques-       The  same  questions,  that  had  been   sent   to  the 
late  bishop  of  Worcester,  were   likewise  sent  Dr. 
"Jonathan  Edwards,    the   late    learned    and    worthy 
sej*   principal  of  Jesus  college  in  Oxford  ;  because  Mr. 

nathan       Lol),  in  his  remarks,  pretended  that  Mr.  Williams's 

Edwards 

likewise,  opinion,  concerning  a  commutation  of  persons,  was 
by  him  condemned,  in  his  Preservative  against 
Socinianism.  Whereupon  Dr.  Edwards,  in  a  letter 
to  the  said  Mr.  Williams,  justified  him  also  against 
his  accusers ;  fully  acquitting  him  from  giving  any 
countenance  to  the  errors  of  Socinus  ;  and  telling 
him,  that  he  had  very  rightly,  and  in  an  orthodox 
manner,  stated  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  satisfaction ; 
and  that  as  to  the  doctrine  of  Dr.  Crisp,  and  others 
of  that  sect,  concerning  the  permutation  of  person 
between  Christ  and  the  sinner,  he  could  not  but 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL. 

look  upon  it  to  be,  "  not  only  false,  absurd,  and  im-    1676. 


"  possible,  but  also  an  impious  and  blasphemous 
"  opinion,  as  being  highly  dishonourable  to  our 
"  Saviour,  repugnant  to  the  wisdom  and  justice  of 
"  God,  and  tending  plainly  to  subvert  the  whole 
"  design  of  Christianity."  So  that  it  was  impossible 
for  any  one  to  be  more  fully  vindicated  than  Mr. 
Williams  was,  against  the  charge  of  his  adversaries, 
by  these  two  eminent  divines  of  our  church ;  to 
whose  writings  and  persons  an  appeal  had  been 
laid  in  from  his  zealous  accuser.  The  bishop 
abundantly  acquitted  him,  and  condemned  the  pro 
ceedings  against  him  as  hard  and  unreasonable : 
the  good  doctor,  who  had  made  himself  famous  for 
writing  against  the  errors  of  Socinus,  honourably 
discharged  him  in  like  manner  from  the  imputation 
of  Socinianism,  by  declaring  to  him,  /  mean  no  more 
than  what  you  affirm. 

Thus  the  new  impression  of  Crisp's  Sermons,  A  further 
with  twelve  names  in  great  letters  appearing  in  the  the  state  of 
beginning  of  the  book,  to  honour  it,  having  awakened11 
some  of  the  more  zealous  among  them,  called  the 
United  Brethren,  to  consider  of  some  proper  expe 
dient  to  obviate  the  growth  of  those  errors,  the 
revival  whereof  they  concluded  would  make  their 
ministry  useless,  and  unity  impossible ;  this  contro 
versy,  which  had  been  before  so  fully  and  unanswer 
ably  determined,  by  the  excellent  writings  of  our 
author,  especially  in  his  answer  to  Gataker,  broke 
out  afresh  with  the  utmost  violence,  but  not  in  the 
church.  For  the  whole  was  carried  on  among  the 
dissenters  only,  till  this  reference  was  made,  when 
they  began  to  be  weary  of  disputing,  as  seeing  no 
end  thereof ;  and  bishop  Stillingfleet  thereupon  took 


232  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  the  cause  into  his  own  hands,  and  upon  a  full 
examination  of  both  parties  settled  the  just  bounds 
between  the  Antinomian  and  Socinian  extremes,  so 
far  as  these  related  to  the  differences  on  foot  among 
them  ;  which  was  the  occasion  of  the  second  part 
of  his  Discourse  concerning  the  Doctrine  of  Christ's 
Satisfaction ;  which  he  left  the  Christian  church  for 
his  legacy  of  peace.  So  Dr.  Crisp's  book  was  that 
which  awakened  this  whole  controversy,  by  its  being 
published  in  such  a  manner ;  and  was  the  occasion 
of  Mr.  Williams's  examination  of  his  opinions,  to 
which  he  was  solicited  and  encouraged  by  several 
of  his  brethren ;  whose  attestation  to  his  book,  was 
not  merely  to  the  right  stating  of  truths  and  errors 
therein,  but  as  a  considerable  service  to  the  Church 
of  Christ,  and  as  a  means  for  the  reclaiming  of 
those,  who  have  been  misled  into  such  dangerous 
opinions,  and  for  the  establishing  any  that  waver 
in  any  of  these  truths.  But  upon  the  coming  forth 
of  this  book  it  was  observed,  that  such  a  furious 
zeal  against  the  author  and  his  book  broke  out,  as 
had  almost  overset  the  united  brethren  with  their 
union.  For  in  October  following,  a  paper  was 
delivered  in  to  the  said  brethren,  subscribed  by 
six  dissenting  ministers,  importing  an  high  and 
heavy  charge  against  the  author  and  his  work :  but 
the  objections  were  looked  upon  either  as  frivolous 
or  groundless,  and  some  of  the  citations  to  be 
quite  contrary  to  the  letter  of  his  expressions,  pre 
tended  to  be  cited,  and  so  not  deserving  to  be  taken 
notice  of. 

Notwithstanding  which,  Dr.  Chauncy,  one  of  the 
subscribers,  in  a  meeting  of  the  united  ministers, 
declared  that  he  would  break  off  from  their  union, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  233 

because  they  bad  taken  no  cognizance  of  the  paper  1676. 
of  objections  against  Mr.  Williams's  book.  Some 
considerable  time  after  this,  when  other  ways  had 
been  found  unsuccessful,  a  person  was  appointed 
more  narrowly  to  examine  Mr.  Williams's  books, 
and  to  collect  out  of  them  what  errors  he  could  dis 
cover  ;  and  accordingly  another  paper  of  objections 
was  drawn  up  against  him  :  and  whereas  in  the  for 
mer  paper  there  was  not  one  word  tending  to  the 
charge  of  Socinianism,  upon  this  fresh  examination, 
that  was  now  thought  fit  to  be  added  to  the  weight 
of  the  other  exceptions  against  him  ;  and  was  wisely 
put  into  the  hands  of  such  a  person  to  manage,  who 
could  not  be  suspected  for  antinomianism  ;  he 
having  not  only  refused  to  set  his  name  to  the  new 
impression  of  Dr.  Crisp's  Sermons,  because  it  looked, 
as  he  said,  like  giving  too  much  countenance  to  the 
notions  in  them,  but  had  written  also  against  some 
of  them  with  great  indignation,  and  rebuked  se 
verely  such  as  seemed  to  trim  in  favour  of  anti 
nomianism.  But  these  papers  were  replied  to  by 
Mr.  Williams ;  yet,  notwithstanding  all  he  could 
say  or  write  for  himself,  the  charge  of  Socinianism 
was  carried  on  against  him  with  no  small  vehe 
mence.  He  solemnly  protested,  *  "That  he  owned 
"  Christ's  eternal  generation  as  the  Son  of  God, 
"  and  of  one  essence  with  the  Father ;  that  he  be- 
"  lieved  the  doctrine  of  satisfaction  by  the  sufferings 
"  of  Christ  in  our  stead,  and  that  his  sufferings 
"  were  punishments  satisfactory  to  divine  justice 
"  for  our  sins ;  that  Christ  was  a  proper  sacrifice, 
"  and  himself  the  priest,  that  offered  it  upon  earth ; 

*  Mr.  Williams's  Answer  to  Mr.  H.'s  Letter,  p.  7. 


234  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.    "  that  his  obedience  is  properly  meritorious  of  all 


~~  "  our  saving  benefits,  and  himself  a  proper  ' 
"  in  his  death."  All  this  was  not  sufficient  to  clear 
him  :  it  was  urged,  he  used  some  phrases  and  ex 
pressions  as  the  Socinians  did,  and  that  perhaps  he 
might  be  a  Socinian  and  not  know  it,  and  more  to 
the  same  purpose.  But  all  the  objections  of  this 
nature  are  demonstratively  answered  by  that  most 
learned  prelate,  to  whom  the  matter  was  on  both 
sides  referred. 
HOW  this  When  Mr.  Lob  and  his  brethren  now  found  they 

controversy  .  ,          ,  .  . 

was  corn-  could  not  gain  their  point,  but  that  his  party  became 
suspected  of  Dr.  Crisp's  errors,  by  that  time  much 
exploded  through  the  prevailing  of  the  opposite 
truths,  they  thought  fit  to  draw  up  a  sort  of  confes 
sion,  wherein  they  cleared  themselves  of  the  most 
dangerous  of  Crisp's  opinions,  according  to  the  re 
peated  advice  of  the  late  bishop  of  Worcester,  though 
not  so  fully  and  clearly  as  he  had  proposed  :  and 
Mr.  Lob  being  now  better  reconciled  desired  Mr. 
Williams  to  put  the  best  sense  on  that  confession, 
that  so  a  period  might  be  set  to  these  debates  ;  Mr. 
Williams  readily  consented,  and  wrote  thereupon, 
and  printed  a  few  sheets,  called  An  End  of  Dis 
cord  ;  wherein  he  stated  the  orthodox,  as  also  the 
Socinian  and  Antinomian  notions,  as  to  Christ's  satis 
faction  ;  and  represented  the  confession  of  those  more 
sober  independents  as  orthodox,  as  their  words  with 
the  most  charitable  construction  could  bear.  Thus 
ended  then  this  controversy  among  the  dissenters. 

The  success      The  number  of  antinomians  among  the  dissenters 

that  follow 

ed  here-  were  so  reduced,  at  length,  by  the  methods  which 
had  been  taken,  that  I  am  creditably  informed  by  a 
considerable  man,  who  cannot  but  know  the  state  of 


Dll.  GEORGE  BULL.  235 

this  affair,  that  there  are  not  now  left  above  three  1676. 
or  four  preachers  of  that  sort,  (at  least  known  to 
him,)  and  those  of  no  esteem.  So  that  men,  he 
saith,  can  without  clamour  now  publish  the  truth  : 
yea,  and  most  of  the  independents  and  anabaptists 
in  this  city,  especially  the  last,  do  preach,  as  I  am 
informed,  against  antinomianism.  Which  great 
change  for  the  better  is  to  be  ascribed  in  a  great 
measure,  under  God,  to  the  indefatigable  and  zealous 
pains  of  Dr.  Williams,  for  promoting  the  truths  of 
the  Gospel,  concerning  Christ's  satisfaction  and  our 
justification.,  according  as  they  are  both  most  solidly 
stated  and  explained,  first  by  our  excellent  u  author, 
and  then  by  bishop  Stillingfleet ;  not  without  a  par 
ticular  respect  to  the  true  sense  and  false  notion  of 
commutation  of  persons,  which  was  the  cause  of  so 
great  discord.  As  he  hath  been  among  the  dis 
senters  an  instrument  for  putting  a  stop  to  those 
pernicious  errors,  and  as  his  conviction  that  the  es 
sentials  of  Christianity  were  struck  at  by  his  op- 
posers,  together  with  the  aptitude  of  an  evangelical 
ministry,  for  promoting  practical  holiness  ;  (which 
appear  to  have  been  the  motives  principally  inclining 
him  to  contend  with  a  strong  party,  who  would 
leave  nothing  unattempted  to  crush  him  if  possible ;) 
his  name,  I  think,  ought  to  be  mentioned  with  re 
spect,  and  this  short  account  of  the  controversy, 
wherein  he  was  engaged  for  many  years,  is  but  a 
piece  of  justice  that  is  due  to  him,  for  the  good  ser 
vice  he  hath  done  in  the  cause  of  truth.  It  is  almost 
incredible  how  much  he  was  a  sufferer,  in  and  for 
the  defence  of  it,  from  some  who  were  too  apt  to  act 

u  Examen  Censune,  Resp.  ad  Animad.  xi.  Apol.  sect.  vi. 


236  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  their  principles  against  such  as  opposed  them.  But 
~~  he  had  counted  the  cost,  as  he  writeth  in  a  letter  to 
me,  even  though  his  life  had  been  sacrificed.  And 
indeed  his  good  name,  which  to  many  is  more  pre 
cious  than  life  itself,  was  attacked  hereupon  in  the 
most  desperate  manner ;  though  it  did  but  all  tend 
to  his  fuller  justification  before  all  good  men,  and 
his  greater  triumph  over  his  adversaries.  For  after 
about  eight  weeks  spent  in  an  inquiry  into  his  life 
by  a  committee  of  the  united  ministers,  which  re 
ceived  all  manner  of  complaints  and  accusations 
against  him,  it  was  declared  at  a  general  meeting, 
as  their  unanimous  opinion,  and  repeated  and  agreed 
to  in  three  several  meetings  successively,  that  he 
was  * entirely  clear  and  innocent  of  all  that  was 
laid  to  his  charge.  Thus  both  his  book  arid  his 
person  were  vindicated  in  the  amplest  form,  after 
the  strictest  examination  that  could  be  made ;  and 
his  and  the  truth's  adversaries  put  to  silence.  But 
to  return  to  Mr.  Bull. 

Mr.  Bull         XLIX.  Upon  the  publication  of  the  Harmonia 
bend^r^of  Apostolica,  Mr.  Bull's  reputation,  which  was  before 
by°thT<S  conmied  to   the  narrow  bounds   of  his  own  neigh- 
ham°tting  kourh°°d,  began  to  extend  itself  among  the  learned, 
not    only  in  this   kingdom,   but    in    foreign    parts. 
Some  prejudices  indeed  at  first  were  raised  against 
him  by  his  adversaries,  who  attacked  him  with  great 
vehemency,  and  some  great  men  were  made  to  be 
lieve,  that  through  want  of  orthodoxy  he  was  not 
fit  to  be  preferred.     But  when  he  made  his  answers 
to  those  objections,  which  were  prest  upon  him  ;  and 

x  Postscript  to  Gospel  Truth,  p.  301 — 308. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  237 

published  his  Examen  Ctmsura,  and  his  apology  for  1676. 
himself,  and  the  treatise  he  had  wrote ;  the  world 
quickly  saw  how  little  he  deserved  the  calumnies 
which  were  thrown  upon  him,  and  he  began  to  shine 
the  brighter  for  having  been  under  some  eclipse. 
And  this  was  farther  confirmed  by  those  who  were 
in  the  sentiments  of  his  adversaries,  (for  they  were 
dead  themselves,)  who  were  silenced  by  what  he 
offered  in  his  own  defence,  and  never  pretended  to 
make  any  reply. 

The  knowledge  of  his  character,  thus  cleared  by 
his  own  nervous  pen,  quickly  reached  the  then  lord 
chancellor,  who  having  been  made  lord  keeper  of  the 
great  seal  in  1673,  was  shortly  after  that  advanced 
to  the  degree  of  a  baron  of  this  realm,  by  the  title  of 
lord  Finch  of  Daventry,  and  in  1675  was  made  lord 
high  chancellor  of  England ;  and  farther  in  testimony 
of  his  many  faithful  services,  which  his  lordship  had 
rendered  the  crown,  he  was  in  1681  created  earl  of 
Nottingham.  His  lordship  was  justly  esteemed  the 
great  oracle  of  the  law  in  his  time,  and  so  perfect  a 
master  in  the  art  of  speaking,  that  he  passed  for  the 
English  Cicero  ;  yet  his  great  understanding,  his  elo 
quent  tongue,  and  his  titles  of  honour,  did  not  give 
his  name  so  lasting  a  lustre,  as  that  piety  and  virtue 
wherewith  he  adorned  his  high  station,  which  is  but 
too  often  starved  in  so  rich  a  soil,  and  thriveth  best 
in  a  private  life. 

Among  the  many  very  commendable  qualities  ofTheeariof 

i  •  tft  i  r-  />       i       Notting- 

this  great  man,  his  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  the  ham's  me- 
Church  of  England  was  not  the  least  conspicu-  stowing  his 
ous ;  which  particularly  shewed  itself  in  the  careprefer~ 

ments. 

he  took  in  disposing  of  those  ecclesiastical  prefer 
ments,    which   were   in   the  gift   of  the    seal.     He 


238  THE  LIFE  OF 

1676.  judged  rightly  in  looking  upon  that  privilege  as  a 
trust  for  the  good  of  the  Church  of  God,  of  which  he 
was  to  °'ive  a  strict  account ;  and  therefore  being 
sensible  that  the  several  duties  of  his  great  post,  as 
first  minister  of  state,  as  lord  chancellor,  and  as 
speaker  of  the  house  of  lords,  would  not  allow  his 
lordship  time  and  leisure  to  make  that  inquiry  which 
was  necessary  to  know  the  characters  of  such  as 
were  candidates  for  preferment,  he  devolved  this 
particular  province  upon  his  chaplain,  whose  con 
science  he  charged  with  an  impartial  scrutiny  in  this 
matter;  adding  withal,  that  he  would  prefer  none 
but  those  \vho  came  recommended  from  him ;  and 
that  if  he  led  him  wrong,  the  blame  should  fall  upon 
his  own  soul. 
The  present  It  is  true,  that  this  was  a  great  testimony  of  my 

archbishop  . 

of  York  lords  entire  confidence  in  the  uprightness  as  well 
chaplain,  as  the  capacity  of  his  chaplain ;  but  the  world  will 
quickly  be  satisfied  with  what  caution  and  judgment 
his  lordship  took  his  measures,  when  they  shall 
know,  that  his  then  chaplain  was  Dr.  Sharp,  the 
present  lord  archbishop  of  York,  who  fills  one  of  the 
archiepiscopal  thrones  of  the  Church  of  England, 
with  that  universal  applause,  which  is  due  to  his 
grace's  distinguishing  merit;  whose  elevation  hath 
not  deprived  him  of  his  humility,  but  he  exerciseth 
the  same  affability  and  courtesy  towards  all  men, 
which  he  practised  in  a  lower  sphere.  And  that 
learning  and  piety,  that  integrity  and  zeal  for  the 
glory  of  God,  which  influence  his  grace  in  the  govern 
ment  of  his  diocese  and  of  his  province,  were  pecu 
liarly  serviceable  to  the  earl  of  Nottingham,  in  the 
charge  his  lordship  laid  upon  him  with  so  much 
solemnity.  From  a  lord  chancellor  so  well  disposed 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  239 

to  secure  the  welfare  of  the  church,  by  preferring  men     1676. 


of  unblemished  characters,  and  who  was  blest  with  a 
chaplain,  faithful  and  discerning  to  distinguish  them, 
Mr.  Bull  received  a  prebend  in  the  church  of  Glou 
cester,  in  which  he  was  installed  the  9th  of  October, 
1678^.  And  as  a  testimony  of  his  gratitude,  he  l6;8. 
designed  a  public  acknowledgment  of  his  lordship's 
favour,  in  dedicating  to  him  his  Fidei  Nicence  De- 
fensio,  which  was  the  next  book  he  published  ;  but 
before  it  appeared,  this  great  man  died,  in  whom  the 
church  lost  a  faithful  and  zealous  friend,  and  learning 
and  piety  a  generous  and  constant  patron. 


L.  In  the  year  1680,  Mr.  Bull  finished  his  De- 
fensio  Fidei  Nicence.,  whereof  he  had  given  an  hint  finishes  his 
five  years  before  in  his  Apology  ;  which  excited  thethe 
curiosity  of  several  learned  men,  to  desire  that  heFaith' 
would  put  his  last  hand  to  a  work  so  very  useful  and 
necessary,  as  this  did  appear  to  them.     For  having 
been  obliged  to  clear  himself  from  the  charge  of  So- 
cinianism,    which    had    been    brought    against    him 
without  any  ground  to  support  it,  he  was  under  a 
sort  of  necessity  of  declaring,  "  how  he  had  been  for 
"  some  time  before  drawing  up  certain  Historico- 
"  Ecclesiastical  Theses,  concerning  the   Godhead  of 
"  the  Son,  wherein  he  trusted,  that  he  had  plainly 
"  demonstrated  both  the  consubstantiality  and   the 

y  [Wood  says,  that  he  owed  this  preferment  to  "  the  endeavour 
"  of  Dr.  John  Tillotson  :"  and  Birch,  in  his  Life  of  Tillotson,  p. 
53,  finds  fault  with  Nelson  for  omitting  this  fact.  But  since 
Nelson  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Tillotson  at  this  time,  may  he 
not  have  asked  him  to  use  his  interest  in  favour  of  Bull,  and 
therefore  have  passed  over  the  circumstance,  as  not  likeing  to 
mention  himself  ?] 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1680.    "  coeternity  of  the  Son  of  God,  from  the  consent  of 

~"  the  ancient  doctors  of  the  church,  who  lived  before 

"  the  council  of  Nice,  with  the  Nicene  Fathers,  by 

"  a   tradition  derived  from  the  very  apostolical  age 

«  itself." 


Arian  and       ^ow  about  the  same  time,  and  for  some  years  be- 

Sociniaii  .  .    . 

writers  in    fore,  there  were  several  Arian  and  bocmian  pieces 

spreaTtheir  published   in    Holland,  and    dispersed    in    England, 

here!'68      written  by  some  learned  men,  that  were  fled  thither 

out  of  Prussia  and  Poland,  who  had  fallen  into  one 

of  those  schemes,  and  presumed  themselves  able  to 

maintain  one  and  the  other  of  them,  against  the  re 

ceived  catholic  doctrine.     And  though  the  Socinians 

indeed  were  generally  for  having  the  controversy  de 

cided  by  Scripture  and  reason  only,  without  regard 

ing  the   testimony   of  the   most    ancient   Christian 

writers  ;  yet  the  Arians  were  herein  of  another  mind  ; 

and    had   some  disputations   with   the  Socinians  in 

Holland    upon    their    singular    tenets,    condemning 

them  for  condemning  the  use  of  the  primitive  Fa 

thers  ;  and  making  a  very  high  boast  of  these,  as  if 

almost  all  of  them,  who  lived  before  the  first  council 

of  Nice,  were  of  their  party  and  sentiment. 

A  fault  ob-      Some  learned  men  also,  who  had  undertaken  to 

some  leTm-  defend  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  while  they  owned 

wri^and  tne  meaning  of  the  primitive  Fathers  to  be  generally 

the  reason-  most  sound  and  orthodox  as  to  this  point,  but  con- 

ameness  or 

thistreatise.  fessed  their  expressions  not  to  be  so  very  cautious 
and  exact  before,  as  after,  the  said  council,  did  give 
an  occasion  thence  for  the  adversaries  to  triumph,  as 
if  the  cause  were  therefore  presently  their  own.  So 
that  nothing  in  the  world  could  be  more  seasonable 
at  this  time,  than  such  a  treatise,  to  put  some  check 
to  the  exceeding  confidence  of  some  certain  writers, 


DK.  GEORGE  BULL.  241 

and  to  vindicate  the  ancient  truths  of  Christianity  so     1680. 


violently  attacked.  Upon  these  considerations  Mr. 
Bull  thought  that  he  could  not  better  employ  his 
labour,  especially  at  his  leisure  hours,  than  in  this 
most  important  work  for  the  service  of  the  church  : 
but  he  complained,  that  both  through  the  ill  state  of 
his  health,  and  through  the  great  variety  of  other 
cares  and  business  lying  upon  his  hands,  he  had  not 
been  able  to  perfect  it  for  the  press  as  he  had  de 
signed,  when  he  printed  his  reply  to  Dr.  Tully  ;  nei 
ther  could  he  for  some  years  afterwards,  meeting 
with  continual  obstacles  and  impediments. 

But  his  friends  not  failing  to  challenge  the  per-  HOW  the 
formance  of  what  he  had  now  so  publicly  mentioned,  w 
and  representing  to  him  withal  what  danger  there 


was  in  letting  some  books  of  Sandius2,  which  did  in 

of  being  ut- 

openlv  defend  the  Arian  to  be  the  true  catholic  doc-  teriy  sti- 

fled. 

trine,  and  that  by  the  tradition  of  the  Ante-Nicene 
Fathers,  pass  among  young  students  of  divinity 
without  a  proper  antidote  ;  Mr.  Bull  with  great 
earnestness  resumed  the  work,  read  over  all  those 
Fathers  again,  and  finished  it  as  now  it  is.  After 
which  he  offered  the  copy  to  a  bookseller,  and  he  re 
fusing  it,  to  another,  and  after  him  to  a  third  ;  and 
none  being  found  willing  to  undertake  the  impres 
sion,  or  to  venture  the  charge  of  it,  he  brought  it 
home,  and  laid  the  thoughts  of  printing  it  wholly 
aside.  For  being  but  in  low  circumstances,  and 
having  a  large  family  of  children  to  support,  it  was 
not  possible  for  him  to  furnish  out  the  expense  him 
self  for  printing,  as  he  was  inclinable  enough  to  have 
done  had  he  been  able.  And  so  this  excellent  book 

z  [Particularly  the  Nucleus  Historia:  Ecclesiastics,  1669.] 
R 


242  THE   LIFE  OF 

1680.  might  have  lain  buried  for  ever,  and  never  so  much 
~~  as  once  been  heard  of  after  this,  had  not  a  certain 
worthy  friend  of  the  author's,  some  few  years  after, 
advised  him  to  put  his  neglected  copy  into  the  hands 
of  Dr.  Jane,  the  regius  professor  then  of  divinity,  in 
the  university  of  Oxford,  and  to  submit  the  same  to 
his  censure  and  disposal. 

By  what         Accordingly  Mr.  Bull  took  his  papers,  he  says,  as 
Tme^be  it  were  out  of  the  grave,  and  committed  them  to  the 

ribST1  pr°fessor  to  d° with  them  as  he  sn°uid  think  fit- 

Fell.  Who,  having  carefully  read  them  over,  was  pleased, 
not  only  to  declare  his  approbation  of  them,  for  the 
sake  of  the  great  learning  therein  contained,  but  also 
effectually  to  recommend  this  work,  which  had  af 
forded  him  so  much  satisfaction,  to  the  favour  and 
patronage  of  that  great  promoter  of  learning  and 
piety,  bishop  Fell.  This  great  and  good  prelate, 
being  not  a  little  glad  to  hear  that  the  holy  catholic 
faith,  in  the  most  fundamental  point  of  it,  was  so  learn 
edly  defended  against  some  modern  pretenders  to  an 
tiquity,  was  presently  for  encouraging  the  printing  of 
it,  for  a  general  benefit ;  nor  had  he  need  of  solicita 
tion,  to  print  a  book  of  this  nature  at  his  own  expense, 
which  so  highly  tended,  as  he  was  fully  persuaded, 
to  vindicate  the  honour  of  our  blessed  Lord,  and  the 
veracity  of  his  faithful  witnesses  in  the  earliest  ages 
of  Christianity. 

1685.         Thus,  in  the  year  1685,  there  was  published  from 
^thelhe-13  the   tlieatre  m   Oxford,  the    bishop   thereof  taking 
J^in0x-upon  him  the  charge  of  the  impression,  this  most 
noble  defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith.,  out  of  the  writ 
ings  of  the  catholic  doctors,  who  flourished  within 
the  three    first   centuries  of  the  Christian  church  : 
wherein     also     the     Constantinopolitan     Confession, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL. 

concerning  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  incidently  confirmed  <685- 
by  the  testimonies  likewise  of  the  ancients.  For 
whereas  in  the  ancient  creeds  and  formularies  of 
faith,  the  deity  of  the  Son  is  principally  and  more 
largely  declared,  but  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  for 
the  most  part  only  hinted  at,  and  in  a  few  words, 
the  learned  author  made  it  his  chief  care  in  this 
treatise,  to  defend  that  rather  than  this  ;  as  con 
sidering,  that  if  he  could  beget  and  confirm  in  his 
readers  the  true  faith  concerning  the  Son  of  God, 
they  might  with  ease  then  be  brought  to  receive  and 
continue  in  a  right  confession,  concerning  the  Spirit 
of  God. 

LI.  The  learned  Petavius  had  been  at  prodigious  what  Pe- 

.      ,  it         •  tavius  had 

pains   indeed,   in   collecting    all   that    the  Christian  written  on 


writers  have  said,  both  before  and  after  that  council,   't 
upon  this  subject:  but  after  all,  this  most  laborious  ^tMici 

work  of  his  was  so  far  from  giving  satisfaction,  or  and  chal 

lenged  l>y 

advancing  much  the  cause  for  which  he  undertook  Anon*. 
to  write,  as,  on  the  contrary,  some  even  suspected 
the  author  to  be  himself  all  the  while  no  better  than 
a  covert  Arian,  and  to  have  written,  even  on  pur 
pose  to  betray  the  cause  for  which  he  appeared,  than 
which  nothing  can  be  more  false  ;  as  any  one  may 
soon  convince  himself,  that  will  be  but  at  the  pains 
to  examine  what  he  hath  written  :  wherefore  the 
great  reviver  of  Arianism  in  the  last  age,  is  by  our 
author  most  deservedly  exploded,  for  his  most  confi 
dent  assertion,  that  it  was  impossible  but  Petavius  must 
have  been  firmly  in  himself  persuaded,  that  the  Trin 
ity  of  the  Arians,  and  not  that  of  the  Homoousians, 
was  an  article  of  the  catholic  faith  :  notwithstanding 
on  a  double  account  he  was  carried  to  declare  him- 

R  2 


244  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  self,  though  against  his  mind,  for  the  Homoousians 
~  rather  than  for  the  Arians  ;  namely,  that  he  might 
both  escape  all  those  mischiefs  and  persecutions 
which  he  had  reason  to  fear  from  the  church  of 
Rome,  in  case  it  could  have  been  proved  against 
him,  that  he  had  revolted  from  her  faith  to  embrace 
Arianism  ;  and  that  also  the  Arians  might  be  able 
thence  to  bring  a  better  proof  of  their  doctrine  from 
a  professed  adversary,  and  to  build  even  upon  his 
ground  their  own  superstructure  ;  as  that  writer 
had  endeavoured  to  do  in  his  much  boasted  book 
of  church  history  ;  which,  by  this  very  learned  de 
fence  of  the  faith,  as  it  was  in  the  council  of  Nice 
declared  and  established,  is  most  substantially 
confuted. 

HOW  far         por  though  Petavius  was  a  member  of  that  so- 
vindicated  D 

herein  a-     cietv,  which  is  most  of  all  hated  among  us,  and  of 

gainst  San- 

dhis.byMr.  whom  nothing  almost  can  be  said  so  black,  which 

-p*    11  o 

will  not  presently  be  believed  by  vast  numbers  ;  yet 
Mr.  Bull  was  not  for  taking  any  advantage  of  this 
popular  odium,  or  for  charging  a  person  of  his  great 
character  in  the  learned  world  with  the  most  flagi 
tious  treachery,  either  from  general  prejudices  against 
the  order  whereof  he  was  a  member,  or  from  parti 
cular  conjectures  about  his  method  of  managing  this 
controversy.  On  the  contrary,  he  condemned  San- 
dius  for  his  rashness  in  passing  so  severe  a  censure, 
thinking  his  suspicion  altogether  groundless,  and 
that  it  could  proceed  from  nothing  but  an  extreme 
partiality  for  his  own  sect. 
His  con-  If  any  conjecture  may  be  allowed  of  in  such  a 

jecture  whv  .  ,    "        .      T   t  ,  .    , 

'  case,  there  is,  1  think,  none  more  probable,  than  that 


auS?horeky«fwhich    he  liath   advanced   concerning    this   learned 
Ni^eTa-  Jesuit  ;  and  this  he  clid  after  a  nice  and  thorough 

thers. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  245 

examination  of  his  work  :  it  is,  that  Petavius  must  1685. 
have  consulted  in  it  the  cause  of  the  pope,  rather 
than  of  Arius,  and  the  support  of  the  present 
church  of  Rome,  than  of  any  one  sect :  for  sup 
posing  that  the  catholic  writers  of  the  three  first 
centuries  were  almost  all  of  the  same  opinion,  which 
was  afterwards  condemned  in  Arius  for  heresy,  by 
the  council  of  Nice  ;  or  that  they  writ  after  such  a 
manner,  as  they  might  at  least  be  thought  to  hold 
the  same  opinion  which  he  did,  by  their  loose  way 
of  expressing  themselves  :  it  will  thence  easily  fol 
low,  as  he  hath  truly  a  observed,  that  there  is  very 
little  regard  to  be  had  to  the  Fathers  of  the  three 
first  ages,  to  whom  the  reformed  catholics  generally 
do  appeal,  if  so  be  that  the  chief  articles  of  the 
Christian  faith  were  not  yet  sufficiently  manifested  : 
and  also,  that  general  councils  have  a  power  of 
making  new  articles  of  faith,  or  of  manifesting  and 
declaring  them,  as  that  writer  would  rather  have  it 
worded ;  and  consequently  that  all  the  additions 
which  have  been  tacked  to  the  primitive  faith,  by 
the  pretended  general  council  of  Trent,  ought  to  be 
received  without  examining.  Now  Petavius,  as  well 
as  some  other  great  men  of  his  order,  may  be 
suspected  by  the  protestants,  as  having  had  some 
such  bias  as  this  in  their  writings,  without  much 
breach  of  charity.  Mr.  Bull,  however,  in  opposing 
him,  was  very  tender  as  to  this  charge  against  him, 
not  determining  any  thing  in  the  matter,  but  leaving 
it  to  be  decided  by  the  searcher  of  all  hearts ;  and  is 
not  unwilling  to  think,  that  possibly  he  might  have 
•  no  design,  by  his  writing  with  so  little  respect  for 

*  Prooem.  §.8. 


246  THE  LIFE  OF 

,685.  the  authority  of  the  Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  to  pro- 
"  mote  the  interest  either  of  Arianism  or  Popery  ;  but 
that  it  proceeded  purely  from  a  certain  boldness  and 
rashness  in  censuring  the  ancients,  which  was  fami 
liar  to  him.  But  howsoever  this  might  be,  most 
certain  it  is,  that  the  modern  Arians  found  them 
selves  not  a  little  gratified  by  his  labours ;  and  the 
orthodox  on  the  other  hand  complained,  that  he  had 
wronged  both  the  Nicene  and  Ante-Nicene  Fa 
thers. 


HOW  Peta-      LJL  Now  the  very  same  thing  which  was  charged 

vius  was  1  •  i        i  •  i 

succeeded  upon  Petavius,  a  popish,  was  unhappily  likewise 
y  charged  upon  Curcellseus,  a  protestant  writer  :  and 
ivus. -t  cannot  ^g  dgnie^  but  that  the  Arians  made  their 
advantage  of  both  these  learned  authors,  and  endea 
voured  to  persuade  the  world,  that  they  were  really 
of  their  side  ;  howsoever,  for  prudential  reasons,  they 
might  think  fit  to  disguise  a  little  their  own  senti 
ments.  His  preface  to  the  works  of  Episcopiusb 
made  him  first  to  be  suspected,  and  Maresius0,  an 
hot  Calvinist,  and  one  who  had  also  a  personal  pique 
against  him,  took  thence  occasion  of  accusing  him 
publicly  of  heresy  in  the  points  of  the  Trinity  and 
Incarnation.  It  is  true,  that  Curcellseus'1  complain 
ed,  that  Maresius  had  injured  him  in  a  very  un 
christian  manner,  and  that  his  accusation  of  him  was 

11  \_0pera  Tlu-ologicu,  1650  and  1665.] 

c  [Joanna  Papissa  restituta,  #c.  cum  brevi  Refutatione  Praefa- 
tionis  Apologetics  Curcella'cnur,  1658.  and  again,  Defensio  Fidel 
Catholics  adversus  Steph.  Curcellceum,  1662.] 

d  Stephani  Curcellsei  Quaternio  Dissertationum  Theolugica- 
rum  adversus  Samuelem  Maresium,  Opus  posthumum.  Am- 
tftcl.  1689. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  247 

utterly  false  and  ungrounded:  and  Maresius,  in  his  1685. 
Anti-Trinus,  having  frequently  called  him  an  Anti- 
trinitarian,  he  made  answer,  that  he  was  very  far 
from  deserving  that  name,  forasmuch  as  he  could  be 
no  Antitrinitarian,  or  enemy  of  the  blessed  Trinity, 
who  acknowledged  the  doctrine  thereof,  as  laid  down 
in  the  holy  Scriptures.  He  challenged  his  adversary 
to  shew,  that  he  had  any  ways  deviated  from  the 
faith  which  was  delivered  by  the  apostles  of  Christ, 
or  even  from  the  explication  thereof,  by  the  most 
ancient  and  approved  writers  of  the  church :  loudly 
asserting,  that  the  orthodox  doctrine  concerning  Fa 
ther,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  was  by  him  believed  and 
maintained,  according  as  it  was  revealed  to  the 
church  ;  and  that  it  was  a  gross  falsehood  and  in 
justice  therefore  to  pretend,  that  he  was  an  adver 
sary  to  it,  or  had  expressed  any  manner  of  dislike  to 
it  by  word  or  writing.  He  pleaded  moreover  his 
baptism  in  the  common  and  catholic  form  with  all 
Christians,  and  his  solemn  profession  when  grown  up 
with  the  church  universal,  "  That  he  believed  in  one 
"  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  the  Creator  of  heaven 
"  and  earth,  and  in  his  only-begotten  Son,  Jesus 
"  Christ,  in  whom,  besides  the  human  nature,  there 
"  was  also  the  divine  nature,  which  not  only  existed 
"  before  his  birth  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  but  even  from 
"  eternity  ;  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  proceedeth 
"  from  the  Father,  and  is  sent  by  the  Son." 

This  is  the  summary  which  he  hath  given  us  of 
his  belief  of  the  holy  Trinity,  and  which  he  ex- 
plaineth  and  defendeth  by  arguments  and  testimo 
nies  from  antiquity  ;  to  which  he  was  not  such  a 
stranger  as  his  master  Episcopius,  having  taken  a 


048  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  great  deal  of  pains  to  sift  this  matter  as  well  as  lie 
~  could,  and  to  run  it  up  to  the  head.  For  though  he 
every  where  declareth  himself  for  sticking  closely  to 
none  but  the  Scripture  account  of  this  article,  and  is 
for  discarding  thence  the  use  of  scholastical  terms  in 
this  whole  controversy  ;  he  is  nevertheless  busied 
much  to  prove,  that  his  exposition  thereof  is  con 
formable  to  that  of  the  ancients,  and  no  ways  dis 
agreeable  to  the  true  sense  of  those  very  terms,  con 
cerning  the  use  whereof  he  had  some  scruples  upon 
him. 

Thus  if  you  take  his  own  account,  there  would  be 
no  man  more  orthodox  and  catholic  than  he  is  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  as  also  in  that  of  the  incar 
nation  of  Christ.  And  he  insisted,  that  both  from 
the  pulpit  and  from  the  chair  he  had  always  taught 
and  vindicated  that  faith,  into  which  he  had  been 
baptized,  and  which  he  had  publicly  professed  in  the 
congregation,  according  to  the  form  generally  re 
ceived  ;  and  did  even  teach  and  vindicate  the  same 
at  that  very  time,  when  the  charge  of  Antitrini- 
tarianism  was  brought  against  him.  Yea,  he  ex 
pressed  so  great  a  zeal  for  the  orthodox  doctrine  in 
this  great  fundamental,  as  he  would  seem  forward 
to  seal  the  truth  thereof  even  with  his  blood,  if, 
as  he  said,  God  should  vouchsafe  him  this  honour. 
Notwithstanding  all  this,  it  is  notoriously  known, 
and  that  from  his  own  very  apology,  that  he  was  no 
less  an  enemy  to  the  first  council  of  Nice  than  his 
master  before  him,  if  not  more  than  he  ;  that  he  was 
no  friend  at  all  to  the  use  of  the  word  Trinity ;  that 
he  so  explained  himself  concerning  that  mystery,  as 
to  assert  no  more  than  a  specifical  unity  in  the 


DR.  GEOKGE  BULL. 

divine  persons;  that  he  defended  the  cause  of  Va-  1685. 
lentinus  Gentilis,  beheaded  at  Bern  in  Switzerland6, 
for  Tritheism,  maintaining  his  doctrine  to  have  been 
the  same  with  that  of  the  primitive  Fathers ;  parti 
cularly  of  Ignatius,  Justin  Martyr,  Irenseus,  Athe- 
nagoras,  Tertullian,  and  Clemens  Alexandrinus  ;  that 
he  impeached  the  common  (which  he  called  the  mo 
dern  and  scholastical)  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  for 
approaching  so  very  near  Sabcllianism,  as  hardly  to 
be  distinguished  from  it,  and  charged  it  to  be  a 
thousand  years  younger  than  that  which  was  taught 
by  Christ  and  his  apostles;  that  he  exploded  the 
notion  of  consubstantiality,  in  the  sense  in  which  it 
is  now  generally  taken,  when  applied  to  the  Father 
and  Son,  that  he  was  very  much  afraid  to  have  his 
mind  perplexed  with  the  divine  relations,  or  with 
the  manner  of  generation  and  procession  in  the 
Deity,  or  with  modes  of  subsistence  and  personali 
ties,  or  with  mutual  consciousness,  and  the  like ; 
and  therefore  was  for  discarding  at  once  all  such 
terms  and  phrases  as  are  not  expressly  legitimated 
by  the  sacred  writers ;  that  he  fully  believed  the 
Godhead  of  the  Father  to  be  more  excellent  than 
that  of  the  Son,  or  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  so  far  as 
to  look  upon  this  superiority  as  a  thing  unquestion 
able,  and  to  appeal  to  the  consentient  testimony  of 
the  primitive  church  for  evidence ;  and  lastly,  that 
he  took  care  to  recommend  Petavius,  and  the  authorf 
of  Irenicum  Irenicorum,  a  learned  physician  at 
Dantzick,  whom  I  shall  have  an  occasion  several 
times  hereafter  to  mention,  to  the  perusal  of  his 
readers,  for  the  sake  of  that  collection  of  testimonies 
which  is  to  be  found  in  them,  as  wherein  they  might 

c  [In  i  566.]  f  [Daniel  Zuicker.] 


250  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.    easily  find  an  account  of  the  primitive  faith,  con- 

~~  cerning  these  great  articles. 

The  differ-  The  design  of  Curcellseus  was  evidently  different 
o"  Peta^ius  from  that  of  Petavius  :  the  one  was  to  reconcile  the 
f*uSCurCeI  differences  about  the  mysteries  of  our  religion,  among 
the  several  sorts  of  Christians ;  the  other  was  not  to 
reconcile  them,  but  to  put  an  end  to  the  controversy 
a  shorter  way,  by  endeavouring  to  shew  the  neces 
sity  of  an  absolute  submission  to  authority,  for  the 
determining  articles  of  faith :  the  one  was  to  make 
the  Scriptures  the  sole  rule  and  standard  for  eccle 
siastical  communion  in  this  great  point ;  the  other 
was  to  make  the  present  church  of  Rome  the  sole 
arbiter  and  judge  in  this  cause,  and  her  decrees  de 
cisive,  how  little  soever  agreeing  with  the  language 
of  antiquity,  and  of  the  sacred  writers  themselves. 
But  Mr.  Bull  was  not  satisfied  at  all  with  the  design 
either  of  the  one  or  of  the  other ;  forasmuch  as  he 
apprehended  from  them  both  the  like  dangerous  con 
sequences,  and  the  same  use  to  be  made  by  the  ene 
mies  of  the  catholic  faith.  He  thought  Episcopius 
and  Curcellseus  attributed  too  little,  and  Petavius, 
and  others  of  his  church,  too  much,  to  the  power 
and  authority  of  ecclesiastical  synods,  for  the  de 
claring  of  articles  of  faith. 

A  mistake       LIII.  And  it  is  hence  plain,  that  the  late  bishop 

of  Bossuet, 

bishop  of  of  Meaux,  with  whom  I  had  the  honour  to  be  ac- 
concerning  quainted,  and  who  is  known  to  have  had  a  particu 
lar  esteem  for  our  author,  is  mistaken,  in  supposing 
him  to  hold  the  infallibility  of  this  council  of  Nice  ; 
for  had  the  bishop  but  proved  this  once,  all  that 
Mr.  Bull  had  written  in  defence  of  the  faith  there 
established  would  have  been  altogether  superfluous. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL. 
He  had,  it  is  true,  a  very  great  regard  for  councils 


truly  general,  and  in  particular  for  the  Nicene  and  NO  argu- 
the  Constantinopolitan,  not  seeing  any  sufficient  rea- 


son  to  object  against  their  testimony  :  whence,  allow- 

ing  them  to  be  competent  witnesses  of  the  faith  and  £oanc!{*! 

practice  of  the  church  at  that  time,  as  in  the  several  manner  of 

his  vindi- 

parts  of  it  acknowledged  and  received,  he  concluded,  eating  that 

that  the  solemn  attestation  of  above  three  hundred 

witnesses  at  once,  must  needs  be  more  authoritative, 

than  the  single  asseveration  of  here  and  there  one 

occasionally,  and  perhaps  not  accurately  expressing 

himself.     For  having  in  his  Procemium  taken  notice, 

that  the  matter  treated  of  in  this  first  general  coun 

cil  was  the  capital  article  of  the  whole  Christian  re 

ligion  ;  namely,  the  divinity  of  our  Saviour's  person, 

as  whether  he  were  truly  God,  or  only  a  creature  ; 

lie  addeth,  "  If  in  a  question  of  so  vast  importance  as 

"  this,  we  can  imagine  that  all  the  governors  of  the 

"  church  could  fall  into  error  so   prodigiously,  and 

44  deceive  the  people  under  them,  how  shall  we  be 

"  able  to  vindicate  the  veracity  of  our  blessed  Lord, 

"  promising   to  be  with   his  apostles,  and   in   them 

"  with  their  successors  to  the  end  of  the  world  ?    A 

"  promise  which  could  not  be  true,  seeing  the  apo- 

"  sties  were  not  to  live  so  long,  unless  their  succes- 

"  sors  be  here  comprehended  in  the  persons  of  the 

"  apostles  themselves."     Which  he  afterwards  con- 

firmeth,  by  a  passage  out  of  Socrates  #  concerning 

some  of  the  devout  Fathers  of  this  council,  which 

saith,  that  even  the  unlearned  [i&tGrrcu]  of  the  coun 

cil  were   illuminated  by  God,  and  the  grace  of  the 

Holy  Ghost,  so  as  they  could  not  depart  from  the 

&  Lib.  i.  cap.  y. 


252  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  truth.  Whereupon  the  late  bishop  of  Meaux  h  re- 
~  citing  this  and  the  former  passage,  doth  triumph 
over  his  adversary  not  a  little,  whom  he  sendeth  to 
be  instructed  by  our  author,  in  the  infallibility  of  the 
council  of  Nice,  in  order  to  bring  in  that  of  Trent. 
For  the  bishop  concluding  it  to  be  our  author's  opin 
ion,  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  Fathers  of  that 
council  to  fall  into  error,  because  they  were  enlight 
ened  with  the  light  of  God's  Spirit,  without  attend 
ing  as  he  ought  to  what  went  before,  and  to  what 
followeth  afterwards,  which  might  have  undeceived 
him,  he  inferreth,  "  Hence  he  [Mr  Bull]  shews  at 
"  once  the  infallibility  of  general  councils,  both  by 
"  Scripture  and  by  the  tradition  of  the  ancient 
"  church  :  God  bless  (continueth  he)  the  learned 
"  Bull,  and  reward  him  for  this  sincere  confession, 
"  as  also  for  the  zeal  which  he  hath  made  appear  in 
"  defending  the  Godhead  of  Jesus  Christ  :  may  he 
"  be  delivered  from  those  prejudices  which  hinder 
"  him  from  opening  his  eyes  to  the  lights  of  the  ca- 
"  tholic  church,  and  to  the  necessary  consequences 
"  of  the  truth  by  him  confessed.''  Thus  far  the 
bishop. 
A  plain  ac-  Now  the  plain  truth  of  the  matter  is  no  more  than 

count  of  the 

truth  of  this  this  ;    the  aforementioned   author  of   the  Irenicum 
had  the  confidence  to  call   the  Nicene 


taLng^his  Fathers,  Nova  fidei  conditores,  and   by  such   other 

vindication,  names  ;  and  by  a  great  number  of  passages  collected 

out  of  the  more  ancient  Fathers,  had  undertaken  to 

make  good  his  charge;  Curcelleeus,  writing  his  Qua- 

tcrnio  immediately  after  him,  had  therein  declared 

h  Histoire  des  Variations  dcs  Eglises  Protestantes,  liv.  15.  §.  10,3. 
torn.  ii.  p.  .593,594. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  253 

that  these  testimonies  did  seem  to  him  unanswer-  1685. 
able,  as  to  the  preeminence  at  least  of  the  Father  ~ 
above  the  Son  ;  Sandius  had  gone  yet  much  farther, 
labouring  to  heap  up  all  the  scandal  that  was  possi 
ble  against  this  council ;  and  many  others  of  inferior 
name,  borrowing  their  weapons  from  these  authors, 
had  been  pelting  at  it  as  hard  as  they  could :  all 
which  our  Mr.  Bull  knew  not  how  to  digest,  he  saith, 
but  as  often  as  he  considered  the  incredibility  that 
such  a  number  of  the  pastors  of  this  church,  met  to 
gether  from  all  the  parts  of  the  world,  where  Christ 
ianity  was  planted,  could  in  a  matter  of  the  great 
est  moment,  even  in  the  very  foundation  itself  of 
Christian  faith  and  worship,  be  either  deceived  or 
deceivers  ;  or  that  Christ  should  not  so  far  remember 
his  promise,  as  by  his  Spirit  to  abide  with  the  apo 
stles  and  their  successors  to  the  end  of  the  world,  so 
as  to  guard  them  at  least  from  laying  another  foun 
dation  than  what  he  himself  had  laid  ;  but  reflecting 
hereupon,  could  not  forbear  expressing  a  sort  of  hor 
ror  and  indignation,  for  their  stupendous  ignorance, 
or  rather  impious  madness,  who  were  not  afraid 
furiously  to  rail  at  those  venerable  Fathers  in  pub 
lic,  as  if  they  had  either  maliciously  or  ignorantly 
corrupted  the  catholic  doctrine  concerning  Christ, 
which  was  tauqht  by  the  apostles,  and  constantly 
professed  in  the  church  for  three  centuries,  and  had 
imposed  a  new  faith  upon  the  Christian  world. 
This  was  so  very  shocking  to  all  pious  ears,  in  the 
opinion  of  Mr.  Bull,  that  he  could  not  bear  the 
thoughts  of  it  with  any  patience  ;  and  thence  he  fall- 
eth  sometimes  into  expressions,  that  to  some  will 
seem  to  have  more  of  fire  in  them  than  they  ought 
to  have,  when  he  is  speaking  of  these  men,  whom  he 


254  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  cousidereth  as  the  professed  adversaries  to  the  dig- 
~  nity  and  prerogative  of  our  Saviour,  and  who  are 
treated  accordingly  by  him  every  where  as  such. 
And  whereas  Sabinus  the  Macedonian  had  anciently 
attacked  the  credit  of  this  council,  by  disparaging 
the  Fathers  that  sate  in  it,  for  a  company  of  rude 
and  illiterate  persons,  who  understood  not  what  they 
came  thither  about ;  (though  by  the  account  which 
Eusebius  hath  given,  we  may  be  certain  there  were 
not  wanting  in  it  men  of  sense  and  capacity ;)  Mr. 
Bull  thought  it  not  amiss  to  answer  Sabinus  and  his 
followers  in  the  very  words  which  the  historian 
Socrates  had  done  before  ;  thereby  implying,  that 
notwithstanding  they  might  be  simple  and  plain 
persons,  without  much  learning,  yet  they  were 
never  the  worse  witnesses  for  that,  and  especially 
since  it  was  piously  credible,  that  God  would  also 
readily  assist  their  honest  endeavours  after  the  truth, 
and  preserve  them  by  his  grace  from  falling  into 
any  pernicious  mistake,  wherein  the  whole  church 
would  necessarily  be  involved. 

Full  satis-  Neither  did  Mr.  Bull  say,  that  he  was  of  the  opin- 
givenherein  ion  of  Socrates,  but  only  did  declare  what  he  took  to 
be  his  meaning,  which  yet  doth  not  come  up  at  all  to 
t|iat  of  the  kish0p  Of  Meaux :  and  having  told  this, 
Mr.  Bull  then  concludeth  ;  "  but  if  any  be  not  will- 
"  ing  to  admit  this  hypothesis,  [of  the  illuminating 
"  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  assisting  a  council  of 
"  bishops  that  is  truly  univer.sal  in  the  necessary 
"  articles  of  faith,]  the  argument  of  Socrates  may  be 
"  put  into  this  form  following ;  suppose  the  Nicene 
"  Fathers  to  have  been  never  so  ignorant  and  un- 
'•'  learned,  yet  the  greatest  part  of  them  were  pious 
"  men  :  and  it  is  unreasonable  to  believe,  that  so 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  255 

"  many  holy  and  approved  men,  being  met  together  1685. 
"  out  of  all  parts  of  the  Christian  world,  could 
"  wickedly  conspire  together  to  innovate  the  publicly 
"  received  faith,  in  the  very  principal  article  of 
"  Christianity  ;  it  being  not  possible  to  suppose,  that 
"  the  simplest  there  could  be  so  very  ignorant,  as  not 
"  to  understand  the  very  first  rudiments  concerning 
"  the  holy  Trinity,  which  were  wont  to  be  delivered 
"  to  the  very  catechumens,  or  not  to  know  what 
"  they  themselves  had  received  concerning  it  from 
"  their  predecessors."  Since  how  defective  soever 
they  might  be  in  any  other  part  of  knowledge,  he 
concluded  it  impossible  for  them  to  be  uninstructed 
in  the  first  and  most  fundamental  doctrine  of  their 
religion.  This  was  then,  and  continued  afterwards, 
to  be  the  true  sense  of  our  author  concerning  general 
councils,  and  in  particular  concerning  this  of  Nice : 
let  the  advocates  of  the  church  of  Rome  make  the 
best  of  it  they  can.  And  if  this  be  not  thought  a 
sufficient  vindication,  taken  from  the  very  book  itself 
by  the  bishop  appealed  to,  let  the  reader  farther  con 
sider,  that  it  is  the  whole  scope  of  his  most  learned 
defence  of  the  first  general  council,  to  shew,  that 
the  Fathers  thereof  did  not  err  in  the  determination 
of  the  article  by  them  examined  ;  both  because  this 
their  determination  was  supported  by  the  more  an 
cient  testimonies  of  their  predecessors,  and  because 
it  was  morally  impossible  for  them,  under  their  cir 
cumstances,  to  have  erred  therein  ;  and  much  less 
for  them  to  have  conspired  amongst  themselves,  to 
change  and  new  model  the  faith,  which  had  been 
universally  received  in  all  the  churches.  All  which 
would  have  been  perfectly  needless,  had  he  designed 
to  prove  the  infallibility  of  this  council ;  for  this 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  once  proved,  all  the  rest  must  have  been  a  super- 
~  fluous  labour,  and  consequently  his  whole  book  would 
have  been  to  no  purpose.  Nay,  even  supposing  that 
he  was  fully  of  the  opinion,  that  there  is  an  infallible 
assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  attendeth  every 
council  that  is  truly  general,  so*as  to  keep  them  from 
erring  in  matters  of  faith,  yet  could  he  not,  for  this, 
be  ever  the  nearer  to  the  church  of  Rome,  or  to  the 
communion  of  the  Gallican  bishop,  as  that  church  is 
at  present  limited  by  the  council  of  Trent ;  since  in 
the  very  same  premonition  he  afterwards  saith  ex 
pressly,  '  That  the  Trent  convention  is  to  be  called 
by  any  other  name,  rather  than  by  that  of  a  general 
council ;  and  greatly  complaineth  of  such  Romish 
writers  and  advocates  for  the  decrees  thereof,  as  make 
no  conscience  of  building  up  thereby  there  pseudo- 
catholic  faith,  upon  the  ruins  of  the  truly  catholic 
faith.  Nothing  in  the  w7orld  can  be  more  express 
than  this,  especially  all  things  being  laid  together. 
But  if  to  any  one  this  be  not  yet  satisfactory,  let 
him  but  for  his  farther  information  carefully  read 
over  his  whole  introduction,  and  our  author's  answer 
to  the  bishop  of  Meaux's  queries,  printed  in  the  first 
volume  of  Dean  Hickes's  Controversial  Letters. 

The  same  LIV.  Now  it  is  no  wonder  that  a  bishop  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  writing  a  History  of  the  Variations 
°f  the  Protestant  Churches,  should  be  very  glad  to 
take  all  advantages  against  a  learned  protestant, 
writing  a  defence  of  the  faith  which  was  synodically 
declared  by  a  general  council  :  but  it  may  well  de- 

1  Tridentina  conventio  quidvis  potius  quam  Generale  Concilium 
dicenda  est.     Procem.  §.  8. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  257 

serve  to  be  wondered  at,  that  there  should  be  any  1685. 
who  pretend  to  receive  the  faith,  and  yet  at  the  same 
time  stick  not  to  vilify  the  council  wherein  it  was 
established,  or  rather  more  properly  declared.  Some 
such  however  among  protestants  there  are.  It  is 
plain  Episcopius  w?as  far  from  being  a  Socinian,  as 
our  author  truly  observeth,  having  expressly  written 
against,  and  solidly  overthrown,  the  fundamental 
article  of  Socinianism  ;  and  endeavoured  from  the 
testimony  of  Scripture  to  shew  his  orthodoxy  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  blessed  Trinity  ;  but  the  defender  of 
the  Nicene  faith  is.  it  seems,  more  than  a  little  dis 
pleased  at  him,  for  his  coarse  and  most  unhandsome 
treatment  k  of  the  Nicene  Fathers :  and  the  theolo 
gical  institutions  of  this  learned  remonstrant,  being 
about  that  time  generally  in  the  hands  of  our 
students  of  divinity  in  both  universities,  as  the  best 
system  of  divinity  that  had  appeared,  Mr.  Bull  had 
reason  to  fear,  that  many  by  reading  a  book  so  well 
approved  of  might  suck  in  thence  a  very  mean  opinion 
of  those  venerable  Fathers;  and  not  only  of  them, 
but  of  most  or  all  of  the  primitive  writers  and  wit 
nesses,  both  preceding  and  succeeding  them;  and 
thought  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  wipe  off  the  ca 
lumny  which  he  saw  cast  upon  them,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  defended  the  common  faith,  as  by  them 
delivered  and  explained. 

This  was  the  more  necessary,  because  the  remon-  An  advan- 

„  tage  taken 

strant  writers,  among  whom  there  were  men  or  ex-  by  Socmi- 


cellent  learning  and  parts,  had  now  acquired  a  consi-  H 
derable  reputation  in  our  universities,  by  the  means  fj 

learned  re 
monstrants. 

k  Episcop.  Instit.  Theolog.  lib.  iv.  cap.  34.   Bull.  Procem.  Defen. 
Fid.  Nic.  §.  5. 

S 


258  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  of  some  great  men  among  us  :  and  therefore  since 
~  Grotius,  Episcopius,  Curcellaeus,  and  others  of  them, 
while  they  were  willing  to  appear  as  orthodox  as  any 
in  the  article  of  our  Saviour's  deity,  did  yet  let  fall 
several  things,  which  the  adversaries  thereof  greedily 
catched  up  as  making  for  them,  Mr.  Bull  was  much 
in  the  right  to  prepare  an  antidote  against  the  lurk 
ing  poison,  which  might  secretly  instil  itself  into  the 
minds  of  unwary  readers.  This  he  hath  done  in 
his  excellent  Defence  of  the  Faith  of  this  council ; 
and  yet  more  in  his  Judgment  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  &c.  as  hereafter  will  be  shewn.  Of  the 
first  of  these,  which  was  written  designedly  and 
directly  against  Petavius  the  Jesuit,  D.  Zuicker  a 
Socinian,  and  Sandius,  or  Sanden,  an  Arian,  there 
are  so  many  things  to  be  said,  should  one  set  about 
the  giving  an  exact  state  of  the  controversy,  with 
respect  to  the  different  interests  and  views  of  these 
three  learned  men,  as  they  are  considered  by  this 
our  very  learned  defender  of  the  Nicene  faith,  that 
it  is  thought  better  to  cut  the  matter  short  between 
them  ;  leaving  the  critical  examination  of  the  whole 
to  them  that  will  take  the  pains  to  scrutinize  the 
Jesuit  by  the  Fathers,  the  Socinian  by  the  Jesuit, 
the  Arian  by  the  Socinian,  and  all  three  by  their 
answerer,  and  the  original  authorities. 

The  chief        LV.  Now  the  four  principal  pillars  of  the  catholic 

pillars  of        ,  .  _ 

the  catholic  doctrine  concerning  CHRIST,  maintained  and  de- 
cerni^"  fended  in  this  book,  are  his  pre&ristence,  his  divine 
substantiality,  his  eternity,  and  his  subordination  as 
Son.  For  against  the  Socinians  he  proveth,  that 
the  Son  of  God  did  preexist  before  he  was  born  of 
the  Virgin,  and  even  before  the  world  also  was,  by 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  259 

many  great  authorities.  And  against  the  Arians,  1685. 
he  sheweth  how  this  Son  of  God  is  not  of  any  ere-  ~ 
ated  and  changeable  essence,  but  of  the  very  same 
nature  with  God  his  Father:  and  so  is  rightly 
called,  very  God  of  very  God,  and  of  one  substance 
with  the  Father.  Also  against  the  same  he  demon- 
strateth,  how  this  consubstantial  Son  of  God  must 
have  had  a  coeternal  existence  with  the  Father. 
And  lastly,  against  the  Tritheists  and  Sabellians,  he 
argueth  the  necessity  of  believing  the  Father  to  be 
the  fountain,  original,  and  principle  of  the  Son,  and 
that  the  Son  is  hence  subordinate  to  the  Father. 

Which  four  articles  being  established  in  this  trea-And  con- 
tise,  the  heads  of  the  catholic  doctrine  concerning ^^Ghost. 
the  HOLY  GHOST  do  thence  easily  also  unfold 
themselves ;  and  are  these,  according  as  he  hath 
explained  them  here,  though  but  incidentally.  I. 
1  The  Holy  Ghost  is  not  a  mere  energy  of  the  Father, 
but  a  distinct  divine  Person.  II.  This  divine  Per 
son  is  of  the  same  nature  and  essence  with  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  III.  He  not  only  preexisted 
before  the  world,  but  is  eternal  as  the  Father  is 
eternal.  Yet,  IV.  He  is  not  self-originated,  but 
proceedeth  from  the  Father  eternally  as  his  original, 
and  is  sent  by  the  Son.  These,  are  the  four  capital 
points,  concerning  the  faith  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  as 
defended  by  our  author,  which  suppose  the  proof 
of  the  foregoing  articles  concerning  the  Son  ;  about 
which  therefore  it  was  necessary  he  should  be  very 
large. 

Now    that    we   may   the   better  comprehend   his  An  account 
whole  design  in  this  elaborate  work,  it  will  not  be  thesis,  con* 

1  Sect.  i.  cap.  2.  n.  5.  sect.  ii.  cap.  3.  n.  13.  n.  16.  cap.  4.  n.  8. 
cap.  5.  n.  9.  usque  ad  finem. 

S  2 


060  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.    unuseful  to  set  down  the  entire  plan  at  once,  and  to 
~  lav  ton-ether  the  several  theses  which  he  hath  under- 

cernmg-tne       3        o 

pree.ristence taken  herein   to  defend,   against   both   Arians   and 

of  Christ.  .  ci    i      1 1  • 

Socinians  on  one  hand,  as  also  against  babel lians 
and  Tritheists  on  the  other™.  His  first  thesis  is  this: 
The  person  called  Jesus  Christ,  before  ever  he  had 
that  name,  or  was  born  of  the  blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  had  a  real  existence  in  a  far  more  excellent 
nature  than  the  human,  and  therein  did  appear  to 
the  holy  men  of  old,  as  a  foretoken  of  his  future 
incarnation,  and  did  preside  over,  and  had  care  of 
the  church,  which  was  to  be  redeemed  with  his 
blood,  so  that  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  the 
whole  order  of  the  divine  economy  was  through 
him  all  along  transacted :  yea,  that  even  before 
the  very  foundation  of  the  world  lie  was  actually 
present  with  God  his  Father,  and  that  through 
him  all  this  universe  was  created.  This  he  saith 
is  the  unanimous  doctrine  of  all  the  Fathers  of  the 
three  first  centuries,  nor  is  the  truth  of  it  denied  by 
the  Arians.  But  against  the  Socinians  he  proveth, 
first,  that  all  the  divine  apparitions  in  the  Old  Tes 
tament  are  by  these  ancient  writers  generally  ex 
plained  concerning  the  Son  of  God.  For  proof  of 
which  he  appeal eth  to  Justin  Martyr,  Irenaeus, 
Theophilus  Antiochenus,  Clemens  Alexandrinus, 

m  [The  design  of  Bull's  work  is  well  and  concisely  stated  by 
Waterland,  vol.  ii.  p.  285.  "  The  plain  question  between  bishop 
"  Bull  and  the  Arians  is  only  this  :  Whether  the  Ante-Nicene 
"  Fathers,  in  general,  believed  the  Son  to  be  of  an  eternal,  un- 
"  created,  immutable,  and  strictly  divine  substance,  or  no  ?  Bishop 
"  Bull  maintained  the  affirmative,  and  has  unanswerably  proved 
"  it,  in  the  opinion  of  most  men  of  true  learning  and  judgment, 
"  whether  here  or  abroad."] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  261 

Tertullian,  Origen,  Cyprian,  and  the  very  ancient  1685. 
author  of  the  book  de  Trinitate*.  And,  that  this 
continued  to  be  the  doctrine  of  the  catholic  church 
after  the  council  of  Nice,  he  sheweth  from  Atha- 
nasius,  Hilary,  Philastrius,  Chrysostom,  Ambrose, 
Augustin,  Leo  the  Great,  and  Theodoret.  After 
which,  he  proveth  also  the  actual  existence  of  the 
divine  Logos  before  the  world  was  made,  and  the 
creation  thereof  by  him,  from  the  testimony  of  the 
apostolical  Fathers  and  others.  And  lastly,  he 
proveth  °  against  the  Arians,  that  they  herein  be 
tray  their  own  cause,  by  granting  the  Father  to 
have  made  all  things  by  his  Son  out  of  nothing ; 
since  nothing  is  more  absurd  than  to  suppose  that 
a  creature,  which  is  itself  made  out  of  nothing,  such 
as  by  them  the  Son  is  conceived  to  be,  can  have 
such  a  power  communicated  to  it,  as  is  not  less  than 
infinite,  even  to  the  producing  other  creatures  in- 
strumentally  out  of  nothing;  and  since  nothing  also 
tendeth  more  to  revive  the  primitive  heresy,  or 
rather  blasphemy,  of  the  very  worst  sort  of  Gnostics, 
who  fancied  the  world  to  have  been  created,  at  least 
instrumentalist  by  certain  angels,  and  inferior  de 
miurgic  powers  :  but  more  especially,  forasmuch  as 
the  primitive  catholic  writers,  even  before  the  stirs 
about  Arius,  have  from  the  work  of  creation  common 
to  the  Son  with  the  Father  inferred  the  common 
divine  nature  of  them  both,  and  especially  averred, 
that  God  created  the  world  by  nothing  that  was 
without  hi?n,  but  by  his  Word  only,  which  was  with 
him  and  in  him. 

LVI.   His  second   thesis   is   this,   that   it  in  the 

»    [Ascribed  to  Novatian.]  °  Epilog.  Oper.  Univ. 


262  THE  LIFE  OF 

168.    constant    and    unanimous    opinion    of   the    catholic 
,  for   the  three  first  centuries,   that   the  Son 


H  R 


of  his  thesis  Of  QO(I   fa  consubstantial    to  God   the  Father;  not 

concerning    ~ 

the  consub-  Of  any  created  or  mutable  essence,  out  oj  the  very 
of  the  "  selfsame  divine  and  incommunicable  nature  with  his 
STSod  Father,  and  so  he  is  true  God  of  true  God.  This 
*  **~  article  of  the  consubstantiality  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  being  that  upon  which  the  whole  controversy 
of  the  catholics  with  the  Arians  doth  turn,  our 
author  thought  it  worth  his  while  to  treat  the  same 
more  largely  and  distinctly  than  the  former,  which 
is  granted  by  the  Arians  to  the  catholics.  After 
therefore  the  P  explication  of  his  thesis,  and  vindica 
tion  of  the  term  made  use  of  by  the  Nicene  Fathers, 
he  beginneth  with  the  ecclesiastical  writers  of  the 
apostolical  ^  age,  and  sheweth  the  sense  of  St.  Bar 
nabas,  St.  Herrnas,  and  St.  Ignatius  in  this  matter. 
and  ''vindicateth  St.  Clement  of  Rome,  and  St.  Poly- 
carp,  from  the  misrepresentations  of  Zwickerus  and 
Sandius.  Then  he  proceedeth  lower  to  9  Justin  Martyr, 
out  of  whom  he  bringeth  abundance  of  testimonies, 
too  hard  for  the  Arians  as  well  as  Socinians  ever  to 
get  over.  After  whom  he  calleth  in  for  witnesses 
Athenagoras,  Tatian,  and  Theophilus  of  Antioch. 
His  next  evidence  for  the  Son's  being  of  the  same 
divine  nature  and  essence  with  God  the  Father 
is  *  St.  Irenseus,  who  is  a  very  clear  one.  "Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  who  followeth  him,  may  not  seem 
perhaps  so  clear  altogether  ;  nevertheless,  he  is  vin 
dicated  against  the  exceptions  of  Huetius,  Petavius, 
and  Sandius.  And  some  testimonies  are  brought 
out  of  his  works,  for  the  consubstantiality  of  the 

P  Sect.  ii.  cap.  i  .  q  tap.  2.  r  Cap.  3.  s  Cap.  4. 

'  Cap.  5.  «  Cap.  6. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  263 

whole  Trinity,  which  are  plain  enough.  After  these  1685. 
witnesses  for  the  truth  of  his  thesis,  he  exaraineth 
x  Tertullian,  and  after  him  -v  Caius  and  Hippolytus, 
concerning  what  tradition  they  had  received  as  to 
this  article  :  and  then  is  very  full  in  his  vindication 
of  z  Origen  from  an  imputation  commonly  cast  upon 
him  ;  proving  out  of  his  undoubted  and  most  accu 
rate  and  uncorrupted  work  against  Celsus,  that  his 
doctrine,  concerning  the  true  and  proper  divinity  of 
the  Son  of  God,  was  most  catholic,  and  altogether 
according  to  the  Nicene  faith.  That  the  holy 
martyr  a  Cyprian,  that  Novatian,  or  the  author  of 
the  book  de  Trinitate,  among  Tertullian' s  works, 
that  Theognostus  the  Alexandrian,  that  b  Dionysius 
of  Rome,  and  the  other  of  Alexandria,  were  of 
the  same  sentiment  with  the  Nicene  Fathers,  as  to 
this  point,  he  hath  likewise  endeavoured  at  large  . 
to  shew.  Which  he  hath  farther  confirmed,  by 
the  profession  of  Gregory,  called  °  Thaumaturgus, 
and  by  arguments  drawn  from  the  d  synodical 
epistles  of  six  bishops  to  Paulus  Samosatensis, 
notwithstanding  what  is  objected  by  Petavius  and 
Sandius  ;  and  from  the  relations  concerning  St. 
Pierius  of  Alexandria,  and  St.  Pamphilus  of  Csesa- 
rea,  with  St.  Lucianus  of  Antioch,  and  St.  Metho 
dius  of  Tyrus ;  and  from  observations  upon  some 
passages  of  eArnobius  and  Lactantius.  And  thus 
the  doctrine  of  the  Son's  consubstantiality,  being 
established  by  the  consentient  suffrages  of  the  Ante- 
Nicene  Fathers,  taken  either  from  their  works 
or  fragments  that  are  preserved,  his  coeternity 


Cap.  7.  y  Cap.  8.  ''•  Cap.  9.  a  Cap.  10. 

Cap.  n.  c  Cap.  12.  fl  Cap.  13.  e  Cap.  14. 


264  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  with  God  the  Father  is  by  necessary  consequence 
inferred,  which  is  the  subject  of  the  following 
section. 

And  con-        Now  whereas  the  ancient  church-writers  did  dif- 
Toetermiy*  ferently  express  themselves  on  this  point,  while  yet 
with  him.    ke  wjjj  nave  j^  that  there  was  no  difference  in  their 
meaning,  he    hath    proved,   I.  That   the    better    and 
greater   part   of   the    Christian    doctors,    who    lived 
before  the  council  of  Nice,  did  openly,  clearly,  and 
perspicuously,    without     any    windings,    teach     and 
profess   the   TO    trvvaiSiov    of   the   Son,    that    is,    his 
coeternal  existence  with  God  the  Father.     II.  That 
some  catholic  writers,  more  ancient  than  the  Nicene 
council,  seem  to  attribute  a  certain   nativity  to   the 
Son   of  God,   as    God,  which  sometime   began,  and 
just   preceded   the  creation   of  the  world :    but  that 
these  notwithstanding  were  very  wide  from  the  opin 
ion  of  Arius.     "  For  if,"  saith   he,   "  their  sayings 
"  are  accurately  weighed,  it  will  appear  that  they 
"  spake  of  a  nativity  not  real  and  properly  so  called, 
"  whereby  the  Son  received  a  beginning  of  his  sub- 
"  stance  [vTrrfcrrao-t?]  and  subsistence  ;  but  of  a  figu- 
"  rative  and  metaphorical  one  :  that  is,  their  meaning 
"  was   only  this,   that   the  Logos,  or   divine  Word, 
"  which  from   before  all   ages  (or  rather  from  all 
"  eternity)  did,  as  being  nothing  but  God,  exist  in 
"  and  with  God  the   Father,  as  the  coeternal   off- 
"  spring  of  his  eternal   mind,   then,   when   he   was 
"  about  to  create  the  world,  came  forth  unto  ope- 
"  ration,  [KUT  evepyeiav,~]   or  effectually,  and  so  pro- 
"  ceeded  to  the  constitution  (and  formation)  of  all 
"  things  therein,  for  the  manifesting  himself  and  his 
"  Father  to  the  creatures  :  and  that  by  reason  of  this 
"  progression   OjooeXewris]  he  is  in  Scripture  called, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  265 

"  the  Son  of  God,  and  his  first-begotten?  III.  That  1685. 
.some  of  the  catholic  doctors,  who  lived  after  the 
Arian  controversy  was  sprung  up,  and  strenuously 
opposed  themselves  to  the  heresy  of  the  Ariomanites, 
nevertheless  refused  not  to  express  themselves  ac 
cording  to  the  sentiment,  or  rather  according  to 
the  manner  of  explaining  their  sentiment,  held  by 
those  primitive  Fathers  just  before  mentioned.  For 
these  also,  as  he  evidently  sheweth,  have  acknow 
ledged  that  progression  out  of  the  Father  of  the 
Logos,  that  existed  always  with  the  Father,  to 
create  all  this  universe  ;  which  some  of  them  have 
called  by  the  name  ZuTvcara/rWi?,  that  is,  his  conde 
scension  :  and  have  confessed,  that  even  with  re 
spect  to  this  progression,  the  Word  was  born  as  it 
were  of  God  the  Father,  and  is  called  in  Scripture 
the  first-begotten  of  every  creature.  IV.  That 
Tertullian  indeed  had  the  boldness  to  write  in 
express  terms,  fuisse  tempus,  quando  Filius  Dei  non 
esset,  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  Son  of  God 
was  not.  But  then,  first  it  is  plain  that  this  writer, 
though  otherwise  of  a  great  genius,  and  no  less 
learning,  fell  away  from  the  catholic  church  into 
heresy :  and  it  is  very  uncertain  which  books  he 
writ  when  he  was  a  catholic,  which  when  he  was 
inclining  towards  heresy,  and  which,  lastly,  when  he 
was  a  downright  heretic.  Then  again  Tertullian 
seems  to  have  brought  forth  that  saying  only  pro 
blematically,  or  by  way  of  disputation,  [ayawo-Tt/cco?,] 
and  in  the  conflict  with  his  adversary,  as  it  were 
playing  about  the  word  Son  :  so  as  though  he  may 
seem  absolutely  to  deny  the  Son's  eternity,  yet  all 
the  while  he  doth  mean  no  more  at  the  bottom, 
than  those  other  Fathers  that  have  been  before 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  mentioned f;  namely,  that  that  divine  Person,  who 
is  called  the  Son  of  God,  notwithstanding  that  he 
never  but  existed  with  the  Father,  was  yet  then 
first  declared  to  be  the  Son,  when  he  proceeded 
forth  from  the  Father,  in  order  to  make  or  consti 
tute  the  universe.  Certain  it  is,  that  the  same  Ter- 
tullian  elsewhere,  in  many  places,  philosophizeth 
altogether  as  a  good  catholic  concerning  the  Son's 
coeternity,  the  supereminency  of  the  subject  con 
sidered.  And  as  for  Lactantius,  who  somewhere 
not  obscurely  ascribeth  a  beginning  of  existence  to 
the  Son  of  God,  his  esteem  and  authority  in  the 
church  of  God  is  but  very  small,  forasmuch  as  he 
was  uninstructed  in  the  Scriptures,  and  was  furnished 
with  but  a  small  share  of  Christian  knowledge.  But 
moreover,  we  must  necessarily  conclude,  that  either 
those  places  in  the  writings  of  Lactantius,  which 
seem  to  make  against  the  Son's  eternity,  were  cor 
rupted  by  some  Manichean  heretic,  or  else  that 
Lactantius  himself  was  certainly  infected  with  the 
heresy  of  Manes.  And  after  all  it  must  be  owned, 
that  even  he  too  hath  yet  somewhere  delivered  a 
sounder  opinion  concerning  the  eternity  of  the 
Logos.  All  which  particulars  our  author  hath 
distinctly  considered  in  the  last  chapter  of  this  third 
section.  The  first  of  these  articles  he  hath  illus 
trated  and  confirmed  by  a  very  noble  passage  out 
of  St.  Ignatius ;  as  also  by  several  plain  and  express 
testimonies  of  Justin  Martyr,  Irenaeus,  Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  and  Origen ;  and  likewise  by  many 
other  concurring  suffrages  of  the  Fathers,  Greek 
and  Latin,  of  the  third  century,  or  thereabouts. 
The  second  article  he  clears  up  by  a  most  accurate 
f  Sect.  ii.  cap.  5,  6,  7,  8. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  267 

explication  of  the  opinion  of  Athenagoras,  concern-  l685- 
ing  the  Son's  eternity  and  progression ;  as  also  of 
Tatian  and  Theophilus  Antiochenus,  whom  he 
proveth  as  to  the  main  to  have  been  sound  and 
catholic  in  this  point.  The  same  he  hath  made  out 
also  concerning  St.  Hippolytus  the  martyr :  and 
hath  fully  represented  the  sentiment  hereupon  of 
the  ancient  anonymous  author,  concerning  the  Tri 
nity ',  ascribed  to  Novatian  and  Tertullian.  The 
third  article  he  hath  established  and  illustrated 
pretty  largely,  by  testimonies  from  the  catholic  Fa 
thers,  who  flourished  after  the  rise  of  the  Arian 
controversy ;  as  particularly  from  the  great  Eusebius 
of  Caesarea,  from  Socrates,  from  Athanasius  himself, 
from  an  epistle  of  some  Arian  presbyters  and  dea 
cons,  extant  both  in  him  and  in  Hilary,  from  Zeno, 
bishop  of  Verona,  besides  the  epistle  of  Constantino 
the  Great  to  the  Nicomedians,  against  Eusebius 
and  Theognis,  and  other  considerable  materials  out 
of  the  forecited  Athanasius.  The  fourth  article 
being  no  less  solidly  and  perspicuously  proved  by 
him,  he  concludeth  with  an  epilogue  grounded  upon 
a  saying  of  Sisinnius,  reported  by  &  Socrates,  That 
the  ancients  did  studiously  take  heed  not  to  attri 
bute  any  beginning  of  existence  to  the  Son  of  God, 
because  they  conceived  him  to  be  COETERNAL  with 
the  Father.  For  it  appears  by  him,  of  the  six  Ante- 
Nicene  writers  (Lactantius  not  being  reckoned)  that 
speak  in  the  most  suspicious  manner,  no  less  than 
Jive  of  them,  namely,  Athenagoras,  Tatian,  Theo 
philus,  Hippolytus,  and  the  author  of  the  ancient 
book  de  Trinitate,  have  openly  professed,  that  the 
divine  Logos  was  with  God  the  Father  from  ever- 

£  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  v.  cap.  10. 


268  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  lasting.  And  even  Tertullian  himself,  who  is  the 
sixth,  after  a  great  deal  of  round-about  work,  is 
found  to  sit  down  at  last  in  the  common  opinion,  as 
he  calls  it,  that  is,  in  the  catholic  or  orthodox  no 
tion,  and  there  to  acquiesce  :  according  as  he  hath 
expressly  asserted  against  the  Valentinians,  who 
were  the  forerunners  of  Arius.  No  doubt  but  that 
there  were  also  many  other  monuments  of  antiquity, 
which  were  seen  and  read  by  Sisinnius,  who  was 
known  to  be  a  person  of  great  learning11  in  the 
ecclesiastical  writers,  as  particularly  of  Quadratus, 
Aristides,  Miltiades,  Melito,  &c.,  which  now  are 
lost  ;  but  might  have  served  not  a  little  to  the 
farther  clearing  up  of  this  thesis,  had  their  works 
come  down  to  us.  From  this  determination  of  the 
eternal  existence  of  the  Logos,  or  Word,  in  and 
with  the  Father,  he  proceedeth  in  the  last  place  to 
consider  his  subordination  and  dependence  upon 
the  Father,  whose  Word  he  is. 


standing 


LVII.  Now  concerning  the  subordination  of  the 

.    .       , 

his  suitor-  Son,  as  to  his  original  from  the  Father,  Mr.  Bull 
the  Father,  hath  laid  down  and  proved  these  three  following 
theses;  viz.  1.  '"That  decree  of  the  Nicene  council, 
"  by  which  it  is  declared  that  the  Son  of  God  is 
"  God  of  God,  [Oeo?  e«r  Oeoy,]  is  generally  approved 
"  of  by  the  catholic  doctors,  both  by  them  that  lived 
"  before,  and  them  that  lived  after  that  council  : 
"  for  they  all  with  one  consent  have  taught,  that 
"  the  divine  nature  and  perfections  do  agree  to  the 
"  Father  and  Son,  not  collaterally  or  co-ordinately, 
"  but  subordinately  :  that  is,  that  the  Son  hath 
"  indeed  the  same  divine  nature  in  common  with 

h  Sozom.  Hist.  Ecclesiast.  lib.  vii.  cap.  12. 
*  Sect.  iv.  cap.  i. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  269 

"  the  Father,   but   hath   it   communicated  from   the     1685. 

"  Father,  so  as  the  Father  alone  hath  that  divine 

"  nature  from  himself,  or  from  no  other  besides,  but 

"  the  Son  from  the  Father ;  and  consequently,  that 

"  the  Father  is  the  fountain,  original,  and  principle 

"  of  the   divinity,  which   is   in   the  Son.     2.  k  The 

"  catholic  writers,  both  they  that  were  before,  and 

"  they  that   were   after   the   council   of  Nice,  have 

"  unanimously  declared  God  the  Father  to  be  greater 

"  than  the  Son ;  even  according  to  his  divinity :  yet 

"  this  not  by  nature  indeed,  or  by  any  essential  per- 

"  fection  which  is  in  the  Father,  and  is  wanting  in 

"  the  Son ;  but  only  by  fatherhood,  or  his  being  the 

"  author  and  original ;  forasmuch  as  the  Son  is  from 

"  the  Father,  not  the  Father  from  the  Son.     3.  The 

"  doctrine  of  the  subordination  of  the  Son  to  the 

"  Father,  as  to  his   origination   and   principiation, 

"  the  ancients  thought  to  be  most  useful,  and  even 

"  altogether  necessary  to  be  known  and  believed,  that 

"  by  this  means  the  Godhead  of  the  Son  might  be 

"  so  asserted,  as  that  the  unity  of  God,  nevertheless, 

"  and  the  divine  monarchy  might  still  be  preserved 

"  inviolate.   Forasmuch  as  notwithstanding  the  name 

"  and  nature  are  common  to  two,  that  is,  to  the  Fa- 

"  ther  and  to  the  Son,  yet  because  one  is  the  princi- 

"  pie  of  the  other,  from  whom  he  is  propagated,  and 

"  that  by  internal  not  external  production  ;  it  thence 

"  followeth,  that  God  may  rightly  be  said  to  be  but 

"  one  God.     And  the  same  ancients  believed  more- 

"  over,  that  the  very  same  reason  did  hold  likewise 

"  as  to  the  Godhead  of  the  Holy  Ghost."     This  is 

the  sum  of  his  doctrine,  concerning  the  divine  mon- 

k  Cap.  2. 


270  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  archy  and  subordination  in  the  blessed  Trinity,  so 
~as  not  to  lessen  either  the  consubstantiality  or  co- 
eternity  of  the  Son  and  Spirit  with  the  Father.  For 
though  he  maintained  that  there  are  in  the  Deity 
three  really  distinct  hypostases  or  persons,  he  no  less 
strenuously  insisteth,  that  there  is  and  can  be  but 
one  God  ;  first,  because  there  is  but  one  fountain  or 
principle  of  the  Godhead,  viz.  The  FATHER,  who 


The  doc-  only  is    [AiVo'foo?]    God   of  and  from   himself,   the 

council  of  SON    and    HOLY    GHOST   deriving   from    him    their 

catedb'y  '  divinity  :    and    then    because   the    SON    and    HOLY 

Mr'.B"1l  GHOST  are  so  derived  from  the  fountain  of  the  divi- 

St^filllSt   inG 

modern  ^«-  nitv,  as  not  to  be  separate  or  separable  from  it,  but 

totheans.  J 

always  to  exist  therein  most  intimately  united. 

Under  each  of  these  three  last  theses  there  are 
some  considerable  observations  made  by  our  author, 
from  the  catholic  doctors  of  the  church,  both  before 
and  after  the  rise  of  Arianism  ;  without  a  thorough 
understanding  of  which,  it  will  be  impossible  ever  to 
settle  this  matter  to  satisfaction.  In  treating  the 
first  of  them,  he  hath  learnedly  and  solidly  confuted 
the  unreasonable  and  uncatholic  notion  of  the  mo 
derns,  which  maketh  the  Son  a  self-dependent  prin 
ciple  of  divinity,  (and  by  consequence  another  God,) 
by  asserting  and  defending,  that  he  might  properly 
be  called  AirroOeo?,  as  well  as  the  Father  is,  and  that 
he  is  truly  God  of  himself,  and  not  God  of  God,  as 
the  Nicene  Fathers  confess  him.  This  opinion  was 
first  of  all  started  by  !  Calvin,  against  the  judgment 
of  the  catholic  church  to  this  very  day,  and  even  of 
the  first  reformers,  Luther  and  Melancthon,  as  Peta- 
vius  and  our  author  have  sufficiently  shewn.  It  was 

1  Inst.  Theol.  lib.  i.  cap.  13.  §.  19. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  271 

afterwards  dressed  up  and  vindicated  by  m  Danseus,  1685. 
and  after  him  by  several  others  of  the  Calvinistical 
school ;  whose  main  argument  was  this,  that  Christ 
must  have  been  God  of  himself,  or  else  he  could  not 
be  God  at  all ;  because  the  notion  of  God  supposeth 
self -existence.  This  opinion  was  very  much  opposed 
about  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century  by  Arminius,  in  an  episto 
lary  dissertation  on  this  subject  to  one  Vytenbogard, 
in  his  declaration  made  before  the  States  of  Hol 
land,  in  his  Apology  against  the  one  and  thirty 
Articles,  and  lastly,  in  a  letter  to  the  prince  Pala 
tine's  envoyee  to  the  States  General.  But  the  pre 
judices  which  many  entertained  against  him  were 
so  violent,  as  none  of  his  arguments  could  get  to  be 
heard  by  them,  who  were  so  bigotted  to  their  master, 
and  to  his  private  opinions,  as  not  to  be  able  to  bear 
any  thing  which  might  grate  but  never  so  little  upon 
the  esteem  they  had  for  him,  and  for  theses,  which 
were  looked  upon  by  them  as  so  many  evangelical 
discoveries.  This  seems  to  be  the  true  state  of  the 
matter;  whence  this  controversy  was  still  kept  up 
by  some  of  the  more  zealous  anti remonstrants,  not 
withstanding  the  great  weight  of  evidence  brought 
for  the  old  catholic  doctrine  against  them  in  this 
article. 

Some  went  so  far  as  even  to  ridicule  the  Nicene 
creed  upon  this  account,  and  to  call  the  Fathers  who 
composed  it  a  parcel  of  ™  fanatics,  for  styling  therein 
Christ,  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  &c.  And  some 
ran  also  hence  into  °  Sabellian  explications  of  this 

m  Isagog.  Chris,  lib.  i.  cap.  23. 

n  Vid.  Defen.  Fid.  Nic.  sect.  iv.  cap.  i.  §.  8. 

0  Ib.  §.  7,  9.  et  Epist.  i   Armin.  ad  J.  Vytenbog. 


272  THE  LIFE  OF 

1681;.  mystery,  even  to  the  taking  away  of  all  distinction 
~  of  hypostases  in  the  Godhead,  as  by  our  author  hath 
been  well  observed :  Bellarmin  and  Petavius  have 
been  too  severe  however  upon  Calvin  for  this  mis 
take  ;  but  P  Possevin  still  more  so,  by  whom  it  is 
named  the  Heresy  of  the  Autotheans ;  and  the 
founder  of  it,  the  new  Tritheist.  But  there  is  none, 
after  all,  to  be  compared  with  a  certain  1  Austrian 
Jesuit,  the  author  of  a  book  called  Symbola  tria,  who 
hath  been  at  the  pains  to  collect  several  passages  out 
of  Calvin  s  Institutions,  and  his  Explication  of  the 
perfidiousness  of  Valentinus  Gentilis,  that  he  might 
compare  them  with  some  passages  of  the  Alcoran, 
asserting  God  to  be  a  Being  of  himself  necessarily 
existing,  to  whom  it  is  impossible  to  receive  or  bor 
row  his  essence  from  another ;  and  thence  most 
uncharitably  concludeth,  that  Mahomet  and  Calvin 
must  both  have  had  the  same  wicked  design.  Epi- 
scopius  and  Curcellseus  have  been  much  more  modest 
and  candid  in  animadverting  on  this  novel  opinion, 
and  establishing  the  communicability  of  the  divine 
nature  and  essence  from  the  Father  to  the  Son,  ac 
cording  to  the  faith  of  the  catholic  church. 
His  candid  And  even  the  zeal  of  Mr.  Bull  hath  not  here  hin- 
CaTvhTon°  dered  him  from  treating  with  esteem  the  author  of 
count°  so  dangerous  an  opinion,  while  at  the  same  time  he 
is  confuting  it,  for  the  sake  of  some  laudable  qualifi 
cations  which  he  discerned  in  him,  and  was  endea 
vouring  to  excuse  him  as  well  as  the  matter  could 
bear,  against  the  insults  of  the  most  learned  writer 

P  Lib.  de  Sectariorum  Atheismiscap.  vi.  p.  13.  edit.  Colon.  1586. 

q  Symbola  tria  CATHOLICUM,  CALVINIANUM,  LU- 
THERANUM  omnia  ipsis  eorum  verbis  expressa.  Quirinus  Cno- 
glerus  Austrius  recensuit  et  notis  illustravit,  Colon.  1622. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  273 

of  his  whole  order,  so  famous  for  learning.  This  de-  1685. 
serveth  the  more  to  be  taken  notice  of,  because  some 
of  the  expressions  of  that  author  are  so  very  harsh, 
with  respect  to  the  present  point,  and  did  seem  to 
border  so  nearly  upon  what  his  enemies  have  accused 
him  of,  as  made  Mr.  Bull's  ears  almost  to  tingle,  and 
caused  him  to  break  out  after  this  manner ;  Horre- 
sco  hcBC  refercns,  &c.,  that  is,  r  "  While  I  am  telling 
"  these  things,  I  have  an  horror  upon  me ;  and 
"  therefore  I  most  seriously  exhort  the  pious  and 
"  studious  youth,  that  they  take  heed  of  that  spirit 
"  from  which  such  effects  as  these  have  proceeded. 
"  We  owe  much  indeed  to  that  great  man,  for  his 
"  excellent  service  in  purging  the  Church  of  Christ 
"  from  popish  superstition.  But  far  be  it  from  us 
"  that  we  should  receive  him  for  our  master,  or  that 
"  we  should  swear  to  his  words ;  or  lastly,  that  we 
"  should  be  afraid  freely  to  remark,  as  there  shall  be 
"  cause  for  so  doing,  his  manifest  errors,  and  his  new 
"  and  singular  determinations,  against  the  catholic 
"  consent  of  antiquity."  In  which  words  our  author 
hath  so  fully  and  clearly  expressed  his  true  sense, 
and  a  generous  liberty  of  mind,  and  given  withal 
such  a  prudent  caution  and  advice  to  all  young  stu 
dents  in  divinity,  as  nothing  farther  need,  I  suppose, 
be  added  to  clear  him  from  an  imputation,  which 
some  have  injuriously  cast  upon  him,  of  having  in 
famously  broken  the  cartel  of  honour  and  civility, 
by  his  treatment  of  them  of  the  opposite  side. 

LVIII.  In  his  handling  the  second  thesis,  Mr.  Bull  He  defends 
hath  shewn,  that  he  had  examined  the  holy  Fathers  ™na!ur* 

r  Sect.  iv.  cap.  i.  §.8. 
T 


274  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.    of  the  church,  both  before  and  after  the  determina- 
not  to  be    tion  of  the  council  of  Nice,  with  a  more  than  ordi- 
ivithnSchanary  application,  diligence,  and  observation,   (as   his 
submdina-  very  senemjes  cannot  deny,)  and  hath  proved  it  to 
have  been  the  general  belief,  that  the  Father  was 
greater  than  the  Son  as  to  his  original,  and  the  Son 
equal  to  his  Father  as  to  his  nature,  [/cara  (frva-iv  ;] 
and    *  answered    at    large    the    principal    objection 
against  the  natural  coequality  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  taken  from  such  passages  in  the  Ante-Nicene 
writers,  as  seem  to  deny  the   immensity  and  invisi 
bility  of  the  Son  ;  which  are  here  reconciled   with 
other  passages  in  them,  which  are  express  for  those 
attributes  being  common  to  him  with  the  Father. 
The  ad-          Under  the  third  and  last  thesis  he  hath  made  ap- 
pear  the  use  and  advantage  of  this  doctrine,  con- 
-  ceniing  the  subordination  of  the  Son  to  the  Father, 
notwithstanding  the  equality  of  their  nature ;   and 
hath   many  judicious    observations,   about   the  dis 
tinction  and  union  of  the  divine  hypostases  or  per 
sons  ;  about  the  consent  of  both  the  contending  sides, 
in  laying  a  principle  of  unity  in  the  Father,  (whether 
that  be  consubstantial  or  not  consubstantial ;)  about 
internal  and  external  production  ;  and  about  some 
other  matters  for  the  farther  explication  both  of  the 
monarchy  and  the  Trinity  in  the  Godhead,  from  the 
principal  Fathers  both  Greek  and  Latin.     There  are 
various  opinions,  it  is  true,  concerning  his  perform 
ance  of  this  last  part :  and  different  uses  have  been 
made    thereof  by   different   parties,    which   is   not 

s  Judgment  of  the  Fathers  [concerning  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  opposed  to  Dr.  G.  Bull's  Defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith. 
London,  1695.]  p.  77.  t  Cap.  3. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  275 

much  to  be  wondered  at.     To  come  to  our  present     1685. 
times. 


LIX.    The   ingenious   and   learned  Dr.  Clarke  in  The  use  of 
particular   hath    in    his   Scripture   Doctrine   of  the  madefy" 
Trinity",  printed  this  very  year,  no  less  than  thirty J^8SS 
citations  out  of  this  very  treatise  ;  and  almost  all  of 
them  are  represented  in  a  very  different  view  from 
that  which  our  author  certainly  had  in  writing  those 
passages  :  as  are  also  the  citations  out  of  the  Fathers 
themselves,    which   Dr.  Clarke  here  met  with,   and 
hath   accommodated  to  his  own  purpose,  and  that 
frequently,  without  so  much  as  the  least  notice  taken 
of  the  explications  and  answers  given  to   them  by 
this    our   author.       And   here,    because  some  have 
thought  Dr.  Clarke's  scheme  of  the  Trinity  to  be  in 
some  measure  agreeable  to  that  which  is  delivered  to 
us  for  the  catholic  doctrine  in  this  most  learned  trea 
tise,  from  the  testimony  of  the  three  first  ages  of 
Christianity,  and  that  it  is  somewhat  supported  by 
the  authority  of  two  such  great  names  amongst  us 
as  PEARSON  and  BULL  ;    I  shall  set  it  down,  as  well 
as  I  can  in  a  few  words,  that  the  reader  may  com 
pare  it  with  the  foregoing  theses,  and  thence  judge 
for  himself. 

The  learned  defender  of  the  Nicene  faith,  having  Whose 
vindicated  at  large,  as  we  have  already  seen,  both  com'™uV«i 
the  consubstantiality  of  the   Son,  and  his  coeternal™ 
existence  with  the  Father,  gave  occasion  for  different 
reflections,  by  his  maintaining,  that  though  the  Son 
be  coequal  with  the  Father,  as  having  the  same 

u  The  Scripture  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  in  three  parts,  &c.  by 
Samuel  Clarke,  D.D.  &c.  Lond.  1712. 

T  2 


276  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  divine  nature  with  the  Father,  without  any  change  or 
~  diminution,  yet  he  is  subordinate  to  the  Father,  as 
receiving  the  divine  nature  from  him.  This  is  in 
short  the  very  sum  of  his  doctrine,  which  hath  been 
excepted  against  by  some,  and  misapplied  by  others ; 
as  if  such  a  subordination  which  he  teacheth  were 
in  itself  inconsistent  with  a  natural  or  essential  co- 
equality  of  persons.  But  not  to  trouble  ourselves 
here  with  any  others,  let  us  proceed  to  take  a  view 
at  once  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  which  Dr. 
Clarke  hath  advanced  for  the  true  Scripture  doc 
trine  of  it ;  which  is  this,  viz.,  "  There  is  one  first 
"  and  supreme  cause,  the  Author  of  all  being,  and 
"  sole  origin  of  all  power  and  authority,  who  alone 
"  is  self-existent,  underived,  unoriginated,  indepen- 
"  dent,  made  of  none,  begotten  of  none,  proceeding 
"  from  none  ;  who  is  called  the  Father,  and  is  abso- 
"  lutely  supreme  over  all,  and  the  one  or  only  God 
"  in  the  Scripture  language.  With  whom  there  hath 
"  existed  from  the  beginning  a  second  divine  person, 
"  who  is  called  his  Word  or  Son,  deriving  his  being 
"  or  essence,  and  all  his  attributes  from  him,  as  the 
"  supreme  cause;  but  whether  by  the  necessity  of 
"  nature,  or  the  power  of  his  will  only,  the  doctor 
"  will  not  be  positive :  no  more  than  he  will  be, 
"  whether  he  existed  from  all  eternity,  or  only  be- 
" fore  all  worlds;  and  whether  he  was  begotten  of 
"  the  same  substance  and  essence  with  the  Father, 
"  or  made  out  of  nothing ;  because  of  the  danger  of 
"  presuming  to  be  able  to  define  the  particular  me- 
"  taphi/sical  manner  of  the  Son's  deriving  his  essence 
"  from  the  Father.  With  whom  also  a  third  person 
"  hath  existed,  deriving  his  essence  in  like  manner 
"  from  him,  through  the  Son ;  which  person  hath 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  277 

"  higher  titles  ascribed  to  him  than  to  any  angel,  or  1685. 
"  other  created  being  whatsoever,  but  is  no  where  ~ 
"  called  God  in  Scripture,  being  subordinate  to  the 
"  Son,  both  by  nature  and  by  the  ivill  of  the  Father." 
This  is  the  substance  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
as  defended  by  this  doctor,  and  from  which  he  in- 
ferreth,  "  That  absolute  supreme  honour  is  due  to 
"  the  person  of  the  Father  singly,  as  being  alone 
"  the  supreme  Author  of  all  being  and  power ;  and 
"  that  whatever  honour  is  paid  to  the  Son,  who  re- 
"  deemed,  or  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  sanctifieth  us, 
"  must  always  be  understood,  as  tending  finally  to 
"  the  honour  and  glory  of  the  Father,  by  whose 
"  good  pleasure  the  Son  redeemed,  and  the  Holy 
"  Spirit  sanctifies  us."  According  to  this  doctrine, 
it  appeareth  that  the  Son  must  not  be  God,  strictly 
and  properly  speaking,  much  less  still  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  that  God  the  Father  alone  is  the  true  and 
supreme  God;  and  therefore  he  asserts  expressly, 
that  the  Scripture,  when  it  mentions  God  absolutely, 
and  by  way  of  eminence,  means  the  person  of  the 
Father ;  as  likewise  when  it  mentioneth  the  one 
God,  or  the  only  God;  though  he  could  not,  after 
having  read  the  Defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith,  be 
ignorant  that  this  was  contrary  to  the  mind  of  the 
catholic  Fathers.  Neither  could  he,  of  what  the 
learned  author  of  the  Considerations  on  Mr.  Whis- 
toiis  Historical  Preface,  whom  he  cites,  had  said 
to  this  purpose ;  though  he  might  not  possibly  have 
observed  or  remembered,  that  there  is  a  whole  chap 
ter  in  xSt.  Irenseus,  purposely  to  shew,  that  Christ  is 
in  Scripture  expressly  and  absolutely  called  God,  and 

x  Lib.  iii.  cap.  6. 


278  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  that  he  is  the  one  and  only  God  in  the  unity  of  the 
"  Father's  substance  or  essence  ;  and  very  God,  in  op 
position  to  all  those  that  are  improperly  called  God 
in  the  sacred  writings.  However  this  might  be,  cer 
tain  it  is,  that  Dr.  Clarke,  who  had  so  ample  a  collec 
tion  of  testimonies  concerning  the  Trinity  before 
him  in  this  treatise,  as  well  as  in  Petavius,  hath  not 
made  that  use  of  them,  which  this  indefatigable  and 
judicious  collector  did,  or  which  might  have  been 
expected  from  a  person  of  so  great  a  character  in 
the  church  and  learned  world,  as  Dr.  Clarke. 
The  doc.  For  the  plain  and  confessed  truth  is,  that  we  are 
way  of  dt!  not  to  depend  much  upon  the  quotations  by  him 
brought,  for  knowing  the  opinion  or  judgment  of  any 
writer :  since  this  was  never  so  much  as  designed  by 
him.  Wherefore  the  reader  must  not  wonder,  as 
he  himself  fairly  warneth,  if  many  passages  not 
consistent  with  (nay  perhaps  contrary  to)  those 
which  are  cited  by  him  in  this  book,  shall  by  any 
one  be  alleged  out  of  the  same  authors.  So  we 
must  not  wonder  if  in  above  thirty  citations,  out  of 
our  author,  according  as  this  ingenious  writer  hath 
extracted  and  applied  them,  we  can  hardly  find  one 
in  ten  of  them  cited  with  any  consistence  with,  or 
subservience  to  that,  which  we  know  for  certain  to 
have  been  our  author's  fixed  opinion,  and  well 
weighed  judgment.  For  whosoever  will  be  at  the 
pains  to  compare  the  several  passages  cited  by  Dr. 
Clarke,  as  they  stand  in  the  places  whence  they  are 
taken,  with  other  clear  and  express  passages  of  our 
learned  author,  and  with  the  whole  scope  and  pur 
port  of  his  reasonings  for  the  truth  of  the  Nicene 
doctrine,  must  evidently  perceive,  that  these  are  all 
placed  in  quite  another  light  by  the  doctor  than  in 


DR.  GEORGE  HULL.  279 

the  book  referred  to  ;  that  some  are  directly  contrary  1685. 
to  the  author's  true  meaning,  and  to  his  design  in  ~ 
writing,  and  most  of  the  rest  inconsistent  at  least 
with  the  same,  as  the  doctor  very  well  knew.  And 
indeed  he  minceth  not  the  matter,  but  frankly  and 
ingenuously  acknowledged!,  that  he  doth  not  cite 
places  out  of  these  authors,  [meaning  them  who 
have  written  since  the  council  of  Nice,]  so  much  to 
shew  what  was  the  opinion  of  the  writers  them" 
selves,  as  to  shew  how  naturally  truth  sometimes 
prevails  by  its  own  native  clearness  and  evidence, 
even  against  the  strongest  and  most  settled  preju* 
dices.  Nothing  therefore  would  be  more  vain,  than 
to  expect  to  learn  from  him  the  opinion  of  any  Christ 
ian  writer  whatsoever,  later  than  the  council  of 
Nice,  because  quoted  by  him  :  and  as  for  the  writers 
before,  and  at  the  time  of  that  council,  he  thinkeih, 
that  the  greatest  part  of  them  were  really  of  that 
opinion,  which  he  hath  endeavoured  to  set  forth  in 
his  propositions,  which  make  the  second  part  of  his 
pretended  Scripture  doctrine.  But  though  this  be 
his  thought,  he  cannot  but  own  nevertheless,  that 
they  do  not  always  speak  very  clearly  and  consist 
ently.  By  which  I  suppose  he  meaneth,  that  they 
do  not  always  plainly  support  his  scheme.  This 
charge  however  I  do  not  find  laid  by  him  against 
our  author,  who  hath  spoken  his  mind  clearly  enough 
in  the  great  points  before  us,  and  who  will  appear 
never  to  have  contradicted  his  own  assertions  or 
theses  concerning  these  mysterious  truths. 

One  would  indeed  be  almost  tempted  to  believe,  More  par- 
that  he  had,  from  many  passages  that  this  learned  th 
doctor  hath  picked  up  out  of  him  with  much  art,  in 
order  to  support  his  own  scheme,  been  altogether  of 


280  THE  LIFE  OF 

'685.  his  mind ;  or  that  at  least  his  mariner  of  writing 
must  have  been  very  perplexed,  without  any  con 
nexion  or  consistency  with  principles,  and  as  hold 
ing  forth  frequently  a  double  meaning.  But  that 
this  is  no  part  of  his  character,  the  very  passages  ap 
pealed  to  by  the  very  doctor  himself,  to  exemplify 
how  naturally  truth  can  prevail,  as  he  will  have  it, 
by  its  own  native  evidence,,  are  more  than  sufficient 
to  prove ;  for  which  reason  I  have  drawn  up  a^  list 


y  Clarke's  Script.  Doctrine.  Bull's  Def.  Fidei  Niece. 

P.  I.  c.  i.  §.  3.  T.  340.  p.  51.  Sect.  II.  c.  9.  §.  13. 

P.  I.  c,  2.  §.3.  T.  616.  p.  117.  Sect.  I.  c.  i.  §.  2. 

Ibid.  p.  1 18.  Sect.  IV.  c.  3.  §.  15. 

P.I.  c.  2.  §.  5.T.  830.  P.  161.  Sect.  II.  c.9.  §.  12. 

P.  I.  c.  2.  §.  5.  T.  934.  p.  1 77.  Sect.  II.  c.  3.  §.  4. 

Ibid.  c.  4.  §.  7. 

P.  II.  §.9.  p.  257.  Procem.  §.4. 

P.  II.  §.  1 1.  p.  266.  Sect.  II.  c.  9.  §.  8. 

P.  II.  §.  ii.  p  269.  Ibid.  §.  12. 

P.  II.  §.  ii.  p.  270.  Sect.  IV.  c.  i.  §.  2. 

P.  II.  §.  12.  p.  271.  Sect.  IV.  c.  i.  §.7. 

Ibid.  Ibid.  §.  8. 

P.  II.  §.  17.  p.  282.  Sect.  III.  c.  8.  §.8. 

P.  II.  §.  23.  p.  295.  Sect.  II.  c.  13.  §.  i. 

Ibid-  Sect.  III.  c.  9.  §.  8. 

P.  II.  §.34.  p.  311.  Sect.  II.  c.  8.  §.5. 

Ibid-  Sect.  IV.  c.  i.  §.7. 

Ibid-  Sect.  IV.  c.  2.  §.3. 

P.  II.  §.  34.  p.  3 1 2.  Sect.  IV.  c.  3.  §.  4. 

P.  II.  §.  36.  p.  329.  Sect.  II.  c.  5.  §.  6. 

Ibid-  Sect.  II.  c.  9.  §.  10. 

Ibid.  p.  330.  Sect.  IV.  c.  3.  §.4. 

'•  H.  §.  39.  p.  346.  Sect.  II.  c.  8.  §.  5. 

Ibid-  Sect.  III.  c.  5.  §.4. 

Ibid.  p.  347.  Sect.  IV.  c.  4.  §.2. 

Ibid.  p.  348.  Sect.  IV.  c.  4.  §.7. 

P.  II.  §.  44.  p.  357.  Sect  n   c  9>  § 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  281 

of  them,  that  equal  and  impartial  examiners  may  be  1685. 
fully  informed  in  the  matter,  as  it  shall  be  thought 
worth  their  while ;  and  so  be  enabled  to  pass  a  right 
judgment,  according  as  the  evidence  shall  clearly 
cast  the  balance  for  the  one  or  for  the  other  of  these 
writers.  The  very  first  passage  of  all  is  a  remark  of 
our  author's  upon  the  words  of  Origen,  commenting 
on  our  Lord's  answer  to  the  person  who  called  him 
good,  which  the  learned  Huetius,  in  his  Origeniana, 
had  charged  with  heresy.  These  Mr.  Bull  hath  fully 
vindicated  against  that  heavy  charge,  and  shewn  how 
Huetius  mistook  this  Father,  speaking  of  Christ  as 
an  exemplar  in  his  human  nature,  and  according  to 
the  economy  of  God,  [Ad  Christi  OIKOVO/U.IO.V  in  as- 
sumpta  natura  humana  susceptam,]  as  if  he  had 
spoken  of  him  with  respect  to  his  divine  nature : 
and  not  the  least  word  is  said  that  can  justly  be 
interpreted  of  the  Son's  inferiority  to  the  Father  in 
nature,  but  rather  on  the  contrary.  For  he  there 
sheweth,  that  Origen  did  hold  and  teach  the  Son 
to  be  very  God,  uncreated,  immortal,  immutable,  im 
passible,  infinite,  omnipresent,  and  absolutely  blessed 
and  perfect,  no  less  than  the  Father,  by  clear  and 
undoubted  testimonies,  taken  from  his  book  against 

Clarke  s  Script.  Doctrine.  Bull's  Def.  Fidel  Niece. 

P.  II.  §.44.  p.  358.  Sect.  II.  e.g.  §.  15. 

Ibid.  p.  359.  Sect.  IV.  c.  i.  §.7. 

Ibid.  p.  360.  Sect.  IV.  0.4.  §.5. 

Ibid.  Sect.  II.  c.  3.  §.  6. 

Ibid.  p.  361.  Sect.  II.  0.9.  §.  15. 

P.  II.  §.45.   p.  363.  Ibid. 

Ibid.  p.  364.  Sect.  II.  c.  3.   §.6. 

Ibid.  Sect.  II.  0.9.  §.  15. 

Ibid.  Sect.  IV.  c.  4.  §.5. 

P.  III.  c.  2.  p.  458.  Sect.  IV.  c.  4.  §•  7- 


282  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  Celsus;  and  answereth  all  the  objections  or  suspi- 
~cions  of  Huetius,  against  the  soundness  of  his  faith 
in  that  article.  The  next  passage  cited  by  Dr.  Clarke 
is  no  more  for  an  inferiority  of  nature  in  the  Son 
than  the  first  is  :  the  plain  meaning  of  it  being  no 
other,  than  that,  according  to  the  constant  doctrine 
of  all  catholic  Fathers,  Christ  did  actually  subsist 
before  his  incarnation,  in  another  and  more  excellent 
nature  than  that  of  man  ;  and  that  appearing  to  the 
holy  men  under  the  Old  Testament,  he  received 
from  them  divine  honours,  and  was  manifested  to 
them  by  the  most  high  name  of  God.  Mr.  Bull 
first  proveth  his  preexistence,  and  his  apparitions 
in  a  human  form,  as  a  kind  of  anticipation  of  his 
taking  on  him  our  flesh  :  and  this  being  proved,  he 
then  sheweth  how  he  did  eternally  exist  with  the 
Father,  in  the  same  nature  and  substance.  Now 
there  is  nothing  in  this  whole  method,  nor  in  any 
particular  argument  under  it,  which  doth  tend  in  the 
least  to  favour  such  an  inequality  of  nature  in  Father 
and  Son,  as  is  included  in  that  scheme  which  it  is 
brought  to  support.  As  for  the  third  passage  made 
use  of,  it  is  certainly  no  better  applied  than  the 
former ;  the  design  of  that  whole  chapter  whence 
it  is  taken  being  to  answer  a  principal  objection, 
which  had  even  shocked  Mr.  Bull  himself  for  a  good 
while,  that  would  infer  a  difference  in  the  divine 
nature  of  the  Son  from  that  of  the  Father,  the  one 
manifestable,  the  other  not  manifestable.  The  fourth 
passage  seemeth  indeed  to  be  very  much  to  his  pur 
pose,  and  every  one  that  reads  it  as  it  is  cited,  and  will 
not  be  at  the  pains  to  consult  either  what  follows  it, 
or  what  is  there  distinctly  referred  to,  may  be  easily 
led  to  think,  that  our  author  was  not  a  defender,  but 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  283 

an  imderminer  of  the  Nicene  faith,  by  maintaining  1685. 
the  Son,  even  as  he  is  God,  to  be  less  than  the  Father : 
which  though  it  be  most  true  in  a  certain  sense 
which  he  hath  explained,  in  conformity  to  primitive 
testimonies,  and  to  the  confession  of  the  council 
of  Nice  itself,  as  he  is  God  of  God ;  yet  is  both 
most  diametrically  opposite  to  his  plain  meaning, 
and  to  what  he  defended  for  the  catholic  faith  with 
so  much  strength,  if  thereby  it  be  understood,  that 
there  is  greater  and  less  in  the  divine  nature  and 
essence.  Which  matter  being  fully  and  clearly 
handled  in  the  second  chapter  of  his  fourth  section, 
I  shall  say  no  more  to  it :  but  send  my  learned 
reader  thither  for  satisfaction,  as  Mr.  Bull  himself 
hath  done  before  me,  in  that  very  passage  which  the 
doctor  hath  here  cited,  but  without  taking  notice  of 
the  reference.  Whether  it  were  the  doctor's  design, 
hereby  to  shew  how  easy  and  natural  that  notion 
must  be  allowed  to  be,  which  so  learned  a  defender  of 
the  faith,  in  a  treatise  written  for  the  cause  of  the 
council  of  Nice  against  the  Arians,  could  not  forbear 
expressing  so  clearly  and  distinctly  even  frequently, 
when  at  the  same  time  he  is  about  to  affirm,  and 
endeavouring  something  not  very  consistent  with  it, 
I  shall  not  much  inquire  :  it  is  enough  to  have 
shewn  what  manner  of  judgment  we  ought  to  make 
of  his  citations,  for  they  are  generally  applied  much 
after  the  same  manner,  and  with  the  same  views. 
And  it  were  alike  easy  to  shew,  how  his  testimonies 
out  of  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  writers  are  alleged  in 
this  very  manner,  teste  seipso.  But  since  he  bring- 
eth  them  only  as  illustrations  of  his  propositions, 
not  as  proofs  of  them  ;  it  is  certainly  not  worth 
the  while  to  contend  about  what  he  himself  layeth 


284  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  so  little  stress  upon.  Howsoever,  it  may  deserve 
to  be  taken  notice  of,  that  the  greatest  part  of 
the  testimonies  by  him  produced  do  appear  in  quite 
another  light,  as  they  are  cited  by  the  judicious 
Mr.  Bull,  than  as  they  are  applied  by  Dr.  Clarke  for 
illustrating  his  propositions.  Whether  Dr.  Clarke's 
doctrines  or  Mr.  Bull's  be  best  supported  by  these 
testimonies,  I  leave  the  learned  to  judge. 

The  use  of      LX.  Dr.  John  Edwards  of  Cambridge2,  on  the 
yDr?  other  hand,  hath  found  fault  with  our  author,  for  a 
[mad- reason  which  made  him  the  better  accepted  with 
verier  on    j)r  darke ;  as  not  being  able  to  receive  the  doc- 

Dr.  Clarke. 

trine  of  the  subordination  of  the  Son  to  the  Father, 
in  the  sense  of  the  ancient  writers,  yea  even  of 
Athanasius  himself;  and  therefore  condemning,  to 
gether  with  him,  a  pretty  number  of  the  ancients 
as  well  as  of  the  moderns,  and  such  of  them  both, 
as  generally  have  been  accounted  most  orthodox  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  some  more  particu 
larly  famous,  for  their  being  advocates  for  the  con- 
substantiality  and  natural  equality  of  Father  and 
Son.  Now  the  case  plainly  standeth  thus  between 
them.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  Christ 
spoke  these  words,  my  Father  is  greater  than  /,  in 
whatsoever  sense  they  are  to  be  understood.  These 
are  made  use  of  in  the  Scripture  Doctrine  afore 
mentioned,  to  prove  the  inferiority  of  the  Son,  and 

z  Some  Animadversions  on  Dr.  Clarke's  Scripture  Doctrine 
(as  he  styles  it)  of  the  TRINITY:  briefly  shewing,  that  his 
quotations  out  of  the  Fathers  are  forced  :  his  texts  produced  from 
Scripture  are  wrested  :  his  arguments  and  inferences  are  weak 
and  illogical  :  and  that  his  whole  performance  falls  short  of  his 
design.  By  John  Edwards,  D.D.  London,  1712. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  285 

consequently,  as  Dr.  Edwards  observeth,  to  subvert  1685. 
his  real  divinity.  Now  it  is  acknowledged  by  this 
learned  animadverter,  that  some,  yea  a  pretty  many 
of  the  ancients,  understand  this  place,  John  xiv.  28. 
of  Christ's  divine  nature,  and  insist  upon  it,  that 
he  is  inferior  to  the  Father,  because  he  is  his  Son. 
He  denies  not,  but  that  Athanasius  himself  inter- 
preteth  the  text  after  that  manner;  and  saith,  that 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  Epiphanius,  Chrysostom,  and 
Cyril  of  Alexandria,  do  the  like.  He  mentioneth 
two  only  that  understand  it  of  Christ's  human  na 
ture  :  and  then  referreth  to  seven  of  them,  that  in 
terpret  this  text  concerning  both  natures.  But  this 
is,  in  his  judgment,  a  depressing  the  doctrine  of 
Christ's  supreme  divinity ;  and  he  will  have  it  to  be 
all  wrong  and  false,  and  that  till  we  correct  this 
notion  of  the  subordination  and  inferiority  of  the 
Son,  as  Son,  we  shall  never  have  right  apprehen 
sions  concerning  the  glorious  Trinity.  This  is  his 
opinion ;  wherein  he  opposeth  not  only  Dr.  Clarke, 
but  the  most  eminent  witnesses  and  defenders  of 
the  Nicene  faith,  ancient  and  modern.  But  this 
he  doth  because  he  is  persuaded,  that  all  of  them 
have  been  mistaken  by  the  misapplication  of  the 
common  and  received  notion  of  paternity  and  fili 
ation,  in  the  translation  of  these  from  man  to  God. 
For,  saith  he,  a  "  Those  first  writers  found,  that  the 
"  communication  of  the  divinity  from  the  first  per- 
"  son  to  the  second  was  expressed  in  Scripture  by 
"  generation  and  begetting ;  and  they  were  sensible, 
"  that  a  father  is  not  subordinate  to  his  son,  but  the 
"  son  to  the  father,  and  that  he  who  is  begotten,  is 
"  inferior  to  him  that  begets;  which  they  applied 

a  P.   2O,    21. 


286  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  "  to  God  the  Father  and  his  Son."  This  is  readily 
~~  acknowledged ;  but  then  withal  it  ought  to  be  con 
sidered,  that  according  to  these  very  writers  there 
is  an  inferiority  of  order  or  dispensation,  and  an 
inferiority  of  nature  or  of  substance;  which  distinc 
tion  must  carefully  be  attended  to,  because  many  of 
them,  who  own  the  former  with  respect  to  the  Son 
of  God,  do  yet  most  strenuously  oppugn  the  latter. 
This  however  he  concludeth  to  have  been  the  rise 
and  ground  of  the  erroneous  and  dangerous  opin 
ion  of  the  Son's  being  inferior  to  the  Father ;  with 
out  taking  any  notice  of  that  distinction,  which 
is  so  common  in  them.  Whereupon  he  inferreth, 
b "  That  those  very  learned  and  worthy  prelates, 
"  bishop  Pearson  and  bishop  Bull,  with  other  mo- 
"  dern  divines,  have  hurt  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
"  by  listening  to  those  writers,  and  by  urging  the 
"  inferiority  of  the  Son  to  the  Father,  in  respect  of 
"  his  divinity."  And  further  he  saith,  that  "  Mr- 
"  Winston  and  Dr.  Clarke  have  laid  hold  on  these 
"  writings,  and  have  made  the  Son  of  God  a  mere 
"  dependent  being,  and  not  worthy  to  be  styled  a 
"  God"  But  if  Mr.  Whiston  c  and  Dr.  Clarke  have 
thus  laid  hold  of  these  writings,  they  have  laid  hold 
on  the  Scriptures  also.  Let  the  writings  of  these 
two  worthy  prelates  be  heard  for  themselves,  and 
there  will  be  but  little  reason  found  for  the  boasting 
of  such  as  depress  the  real  divinity  of  the  Son  of 
God :  and  let  the  Scriptures,  as  interpreted  by  the 
catholic  rule  of  antiquity,  be  heard  likewise  for  them 
in  this  cause.  This  I  hope  will  not  be  denied  by 
any,  being  a  request  so  reasonable  in  itself:  and  if 

b  P.  2 1.     c  [See  the  Historical  preface  to  Primitive  Christianity 
restored.    London,  1711.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  287 

granted,  I  do  not  much  doubt  of  the  success,  though 
there  should  be  several  prejudices  here  to  grapple 
with.  For  nothing  surely  can  ever  be  more  plain 
from  that  whole  d  chapter  of  our  author,  which 
treateth  distinctly  of  this  very  subject,  than  the 
great  and  manifest  difference  that  there  is  betwixt 
order  and  substance,  with  respect  to  the  persons  of 
the  Father  and  the  Son  in  the  blessed  Trinity ;  for 
asmuch  as  there  is  a  gradation  of  one  but  not  of  the 
other,  according  to  the  most  primitive  and  catholic 
tradition  of  the  faith :  and  the  very  same  Fathers 
who  are  so  plain  and  express  for  the  former,  and 
even  so  far  as  thence  to  be  challenged  by  the  ad 
versaries  of  the  catholic  faith,  out  of  a  mistaken 
apprehension  of  their  true  and  genuine  sense,  are 
generally  express  against  the  latter.  This  is  made 
most  clear  in  Justin  Martyr;  in  whom  some  seem 
ing  contradictions  are  hereby  very  easily  to  be  re 
conciled,  as  our  author  in  that  chapter  sheweth. 
Thus  also  Irenaeus,  who  confesseth  the  Father's 
prerogative,  and  the  Son's  subordination  in  the  full 
est  terms,  disputeth  yet  with  the  Valentinians 
against  this  notion  of  the  inferiority  and  inequality 
of  the  Logos  to  the  Father;  and  when  he  distin- 
guisheth  betwixt  the  Logos  and  the  creatures,  he 
maketh  the  difference  herein  chiefly  to  consist,  that 
no  creature  can  be  equal  to  its  Maker,  thereby 
manifestly  signifying,  that  the  Word,  or  Son  of 
God,  must  needs  be  altogether  equal  to  God  his 
Father,  as  to  his  nature ;  whence  also  he  pronounc- 
eth  them  to  be  exactly  commensurate  with  each 
other,  without  any  manner  of  diminution  whatso- 

d  Sect.  iv.  cap.  2. 


288  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  ever,  and  chargeth  them  with  blindness  who  do  not 
~see  this  truth.  Thus  also  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
thus  Tertullian,  thus  Origen,  thus  Dionysius  of 
Alexandria,  before  the  rise  of  the  Arian  contro 
versy:  thus  Alexander  of  Alexandria,  and  his  suc 
cessor  Athanasiiis,  upon  the  rise  of  it,  as  plainly  as 
words  can  express :  thus  afterwards,  in  the  progress 
of  this  controversy,  Basil  the  Great,  thus  Nazianzen, 
thus  Chrysostom,  thus  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  and 
John  Damascen,  among  the  Greek  writers :  thus 
Marius  Victorinus,  thus  Hilary,  thus  Augustin,  and 
others  among  the  Latin  Fathers,  have  all  written 
to  the  same  purpose,  as  our  author  hath  at  large 
proved.  Nay,  it  is  more  than  a  little  observable, 
that  even  those  very  ancients,  which  by  Dr.  Ed 
wards  are  taxed  for  having  misled  into  error  the 
most  eminent  divines  of  this  last  age,  do  abundantly 
herein  clear  themselves,  according  to  the  report 
which  he  himself  hath  given  us  of  them,  at  the 
very  time  that  he  is  disputing  against  the  thesis  of 
the  Son's  subordination,  as  it  is  explained  and  de 
fended  in  this  treatise  by  our  excellent  author.  For 
it  must  be  owned,  that  he  hath  brought  out  of  them 
several  illustrious  testimonies,  which  shew,  that  not 
withstanding  they  asserted  the  same  subordination 
with  these  two  great  men  of  our  church,  yet  they 
never  asserted  it  so,  as  to  deny  that  supremacy, 
which  belongs  to  the  Son  as  well  as  his  Father; 
but  on  the  contrary  taught,  that  the  very  notion  of 
supremacy  is  necessarily  included  in  that  of  the 
deity,  and  that  God  cannot  excel  God,  nor  one  of 
the  divine  persons  be  inferior  to  the  other,  as  to 
the  divine  being  and  nature;  but  that  there  is  one 
deity  and  power  in  them,  not  unequal  as  to  their 


1)H.  GEORGE  BULL.  i>8<) 

substances  and  natures,  neither  increased  by  any  1685. 
superexcellencies,  nor  decreased  by  any  diminutions, 
but  every  way  equal  and  the  same ;  notwithstanding 
that  diversity  of  dispensation,  and  of  order,  which 
the  same  witnesses  bear  record  of,  as  delivered  to 
them  from  the  beginning.  So  that  from  the  review 
of  what  these  several  writers  have  advanced,  and  of 
the  great  pains  they  have  been  at  in  collecting  such 
a  number  of  ancient  testimonies  to  support  their 
several  hypotheses,  it  will  evidently  appear,  that 
notwithstanding  what  the  holy  Scriptures  and  the 
catholic  Fathers  have  delivered  down  to  us  concern 
ing  the  unity  and  identity  of  the  blessed  Trinity  as 
to  its  essence,  yet  they  always  suppose  and  assert 
the  difference  of  the  personalities  in  the  Godhead, 
and  consequently  the  difference  of  order,  with  the 
diversity  of  operations.  And  thus  the  charge  of  Dr. 
Edwards,  through  the  sides  of  Dr.  Clarke,  against 
this  famous  defender  of  the  primitive  faith,  falleth 
to  the  ground. 

LXI.  But  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  if  from  the  Of  Dr. 
first  publication  of  this  learned  Defence  of  the  Ni~.d^Dr. 
cene  Faith,  and  ever  since,  there  have  been  various  ^'''j^; 
sentiments  concerning  it  among  the  learned,  accord- schemes 

compared 

ing  as  they  have  been  differently  affected  or  in- with  this 
structed6.  For  the  most  learned  author  of  the 
Intellectual  System,  Dr.  Cudworth,  having  profess 
edly  maintained,  that  the  three  persons  of  the  Tri 
nity  are  three  distinct  spiritual  substances,  but  that 
the  Father  alone  is  truly  and  properly  God,  that  he 


e  [Simon  in  his  Nouvelle  Bibliothccjue  choisie,  c.  14.  seems  not 
well  satisfied  with  the  Defence.^ 

U 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  alone  in  the  proper  sense  is  supreme,  that  absolute 
"supreme  honour  is  due  to  him  only,  and  that  he, 
absolutely  speaking,  is  the  only  God  of  the  universe  ; 
the  Son  and  Spirit  being  God,  but  only  by  the  Fa 
ther's  concurrence  with  them,  and  their  subordina 
tion  and  subjection  to  him ;  this  awakened  a  sus 
picion  in  some,  that  Mr.  Bull  was  Dr.  Cudworth's 
second  in  this  cause :  and  Dr.  Sherlock,  having 
afterwards  directly  maintained,  that  there  are  three 
infinite  distinct  minds  and  substances  in  the  Trinity, 
and  that  the  three  persons  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  are  so  many  infinite  minds  or  spirits  ;  which 
he  endeavoured  also  to  explain,  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  Cartesian  metaphysics ;  a  storm 
being  thereupon  raised  in  the  church,  and  his  opin 
ion  condemned  by  a  great  many  as  false,  heretical, 
and  impious,  it  could  not  be  avoided,  but  some  drops 
fell  upon  the  head  of  Mr.  Bull  also,  or  rather  re 
bounded  from  Dr.  Sherlock  upon  him  ;  none  being- 
very  Milling  directly  to  meddle  with  one  that  had 
so  honourably  acquitted  himself,  his  very  enemies 
being  judges,  and  who  was  so  strongly  fenced  in, 
that  there  was  no  getting  at  him,  but  by  cutting 
through  a  whole  troop  of  veterans.  But  all  con 
sidering  readers  easily  discerned,  that  though  he 
asserted  three  real,  distinct,  coequal,  coeternal  per 
sons,  (not  in  one  singular  and  solitary,  but)  in  one 
numerical  nature  and  essence,  not  taking  away 
the  subordination  of  the  second  and  third  to  the 
first  person;  yet  he  did  neither  own  the  Platonic 
inequality  of  Dr.  Cudworth,  nor  the  Sabellian  com 
position  and  union  of  others,  nor  the  novel  and 
philosophical  explications  of  Dr.  Sherlock.  Dr.  Cud- 
worth  had  asserted  the  Son  to  be  God,  in  the  very 


DR.  GKORGK  BULL.  091 

same  sense  which  Dr.  Clarke  hath  done:  ami  that  1685. 
the  Son  and  Spirit  may  have  the  divine  attributes, 
such  as  omnipotence,  omniscience,  and  the  rest 
ascribed  to  them  ;  but  that  they  are  not  omnipotent 
and  omniscient,  ad  intra,  of  themselves,  (and  so  of 
the  rest,)  but  only  by  means  of  the  Father's  con 
currence.  Also  Dr.  Sherlock  had  introduced  new 
terms  without  and  against  the  authority  of  the 
church,  and  had  mixed  philosophy  with  divinity,  in 
a  matter  not  to  be  decided  but  by  revelation  only ; 
and  so  expressed  himself,  as  to  seem  to  destroy  the 
unity  of  the  Deity,  and  to  make  himself  suspected  of 
tritheism  by  more  than  a  few ;  though  our  learned 
author  in  his  Discourse  of  the  Catholic  Doctrine 
of  the  Trinity \  &c.,  seems  to  clear  him  from  that 
charge.  And  besides  these,  several  others  were  for 
framing  schemes  out  of  their  own  heads,  concerning 
this  ineffable  mystery,  and  so  departed  from  the  old 
trodden  way,  which  is  so  plainly  described  in  this 
excellent  treatise f. 

But   notwithstanding  all  this,  it   was  no    sooner  HOW  ad- 
printed  at  Oxford,  but  it  was  received  with  an  uni-L \veT 
versal  applause,  as  it  greatly  deserved  :  and  the  fame  j 
thereof  soon  spread  itself  into  foreign  parts,  where  it 
was  highly  valued  by  the  best  judges  of  antiquity, 
though  of  different  persuasions.     Hence  an    Unita 
rian  writer,  who  calleth  himself  a  disinterested  per 
son,  though  he  hath  given  \mjudgment  against  it, 
with    all    the    strength    and    learning    that   he    was 

f  [In  the  year  1718,  i.  e.  nine  years  after  Bull's  death,  and 
thirty-three  years  after  the  appearance  of  the  Defensio,  Dr.  Whitby 
published  a  work,  entitled,  Disquisition es  modesttz  in  clarissinri 
Bulli  Defensionew  Fiiiei  Niccence,  an  account  of  which  work  may 
be  seen  in  Waterland,  vol.  ii.  p.  282,  &c. 

U  2 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  master  of,  yet  was  obliged  by  the  irresistible  evi- 
~  deuce  of  truth,  to  give  this  following  character,  both 
of  the  book  and  author,  viz.,  #  "  After  Dr.  Cuclworth, 
"  came  Dr.  Bull,  author  of  the  Defence  of  the  Ni- 
"  cene  Faith,  a  book  that  has  rendered  the  writer 
"  of  it  very  famous,  not  in  England  only  or  chiefly, 
"  but  beyond  the  water.  It  is  composed  in  a  style 
"  most  truly  Latin,  with  much  vivacity  of  expres- 
"  sion,  with  great  vigour  and  subtilty  of  thought : 
"  in  short,  it  is  worthy  of  the  noble  argument  of 
"  which  he  treats.  This  author  having  studied  the 
"  Fathers  with  an  application,  diligence,  and  ob- 
"  servation,  almost  peculiar  to  him,  perceived  that 
"  the  schools  have  departed  from  that  notion  of  the 
"  Trinity  believed  and  professed  by  some  of  the 
"  principal  Fathers."  Thus  far  he ;  which  was 
surely  confession  enough  from  an  enemy.  But  the 
answerer  of  this  Socinian  pamphlet,  who  is  supposed 
to  be  Dr.  Sherlock  himself,  in  a  discourse  entitled, 
The  Distinction  between  Real  and  Nominal  Tri 
nitarians  examined,  &c.,  hath  made  this  reflection 
hereupon ;  that  this  was  done  out  of  pure  artifice 
only,  not  out  of  any  good-will  for  our  author,  or 
disinterestedness  between  the  two  contending  par 
ties,  but  h  "  that  all  that  this  Socinian  intended  by 
"  bringing  Dr.  Bull  into  the  fray,  was  to  follow  the 
"  blow  the  animadverter,  [Dr.  South,]  and  the  Ox- 
"  ford  decree  had  given  to  a  Trinity  of  distinct, 
"  proper,  subsisting,  living,  intelligent  persons,  (which 
"  is  all  that  Dr.  Bull  or  the  dean  assert,)  by 

g  The  Judgment  of  a  disinterested  Person,  concerning  the  Con 
troversy  about  the  blessed  Trinity,  depending  between  Dr.  South 
and  Dr.  Sherlock,  4to.  an.  1696. 

h  Page  4. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  293 

"  their  charge  of  tritheism,  which  he  hoped  would  be  1685. 
"  a  sufficient  answer  to  that  otherwise  unanswerable 
"  book ;  and  together  with  Dr.  Bull  would  confute 
"  all  the  Fathers  at  once,  on  whose  authority  he  so 
"  much  relies,  and  to  whom  he  perpetually  appeals  ; 
"  for  no  Christian  must  hearken  to  those  men, 
"  whatever  their  authority  be,  did  they  really  (as 
"  they  are  unjustly  charged)  preach  three  Gods ; 
"  and  thus  he  thinks  he  has  got  rid  of  all  antiquity, 
"  and  of  the  tritheistic  Trinity  with  it."  But  what 
soever  might  be  his  design,  and  this  seems  very 
probable  which  here  is  alleged  against  him,  it  must 
still  be  confessed,  that  nothing  but  the  truth  forced 
this  character  from  him.  And  indeed  this  book 
was  so  universally  applauded,  that  it  brought  over 
to  the  author  several  who  were  before  his  enemies, 
or  that  at  least  were  doubtful,  whether  he  was 
orthodox  in  the  faith.  The  university  of  Oxford 
accounted  it  an  honour  to  them,  to  have  so  learned 
and  useful  a  treatise  printed  at  their  press,  and 
written  by  one  who  had  been  formerly  a  member 
of  their  body,  but  was  driven  away  by  the  wicked 
ness  of  the  times,  as  hath  been  already  remarked. 
Wherefore  they  thought  it  incumbent  upon  them 
to  confer  what  honour  they  could  upon  him,  as  shall 
be  afterwards  related,  who  by  this  judicious  and  ela 
borate  defence  of  the  catholic  faith,  had  contributed 
so  much  to  the  honour,  not  only  of  the  university 
itself,  but  of  the  church  and  nation,  in  foreign 
churches  and  nations. 

LXTI.   In  the  year  lb'90,  the  bishop  of  Meaux,  The  bishop 
whose  History  of  the    Variations,  &c'.,   had    been  "e 

1   [Histoire  des  Variations  des  Eglises  Protestantes.  1688.] 


294  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  attacked  in  defence  of  the  protestants,  (but  especially 
sie^J^Teu  of  the  French  Calvinists,)  by  monsieur  Jurieu,  with 
for^he8""'  to°  little  Deference  to  the  primitive  Fathers  of  the 
sense  of 'the  cnurcu  set  forth  a  discourse  against  this  his  ad- 
Fathers  11-  f 
about  the  versary,  on  purpose  to  prove,  that  his  way  ot  pro 
ceeding  did  effectually  tend  to  the  very  undermining 
of  Christianity,  or  at  least  to  the  establishment  of 
Socinianism  ;  and  that  it  was  a  method  condemned, 
not  only  by  the  Roman  catholics,  but  by  the  most 
judicious  protestant  writers,  such  as  Dr.  Bull  in  par 
ticular.  And  having  in  his  aforesaid  history  made 
honourable  mention  of  our  most  learned  author,  as 
before  was  taken  notice  of;  he  upon  this  fresh  occa 
sion  frequently  maketh  his  appeal  to  him,  and  send- 
eth  his  readers  to  satisfy  themselves,  in  the  collection 
of  testimonies  gathered  by  him  out  of  the  Fathers. 
In  one  place  he  saith,  "  That  I  may  have  no  occa- 
"  sion,  my  brethren,  to  defend  against  you  the  doc- 
"  trine  of  the  first  ages,  concerning  the  eternal  gene- 
"  ration  of  the  Son,  if  your  minister  hath  any  doubt 
"  hereof,  and  is  not  willing  to  read  the  learned  trea- 
"  tises  of  a  k  father  Thomassin,  who  so  profoundly 
"  explains  the  ancient  traditions,  or  the  learned  pre- 
"  face  of  a  J father  Petau,  which  is  the  elucidation 
"  and  key  of  his  whole  doctrine,  concerning  this 
"  matter,  I  send  him  to  m  BULL,  that  learned  Eng- 
"  lish  protestant,  the  treatise,  where  he  hath  so  well 
"  defended  the  Fathers,  who  lived  before  the  council 
"  of  Nice.  You  must  either  renounce  the  faith  of 
"  the  holy  Trinity,  which  God  forbid,  or  presuppose 

k  Dogmata  Theolog.  Thomass.  torn.  iii. 
1  Petav.  Pref.  torn.  ii.  Theolog.  Dogm. 

111  Premier  Avertisement  aux  Protestants   sur   les  Lettres  du 
Ministre  Jurieu  contre  L'Histoire  des  Variations.  §.xxv. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  295 

"  with  me  that  this  author  hath  reason."  For  168,5. 
monsieur  Jurieu,  by  endeavouring  to  find  variations  ~ 
in  the  ancient  Fathers,  and  treading  in  the  steps  of 
Bailee,  did  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  general  more 
hurt,  than  he  did  his  own  good  by  it.  For  if» 
according  to  him,  the  primitive  Christians  did  not 
believe  "the  eternity  of  the  Son,  or  the  immuta 
bility  of  the  divine  essence,  or  the  equality  of  the 
second  and  third  persons  with  the  first,  or  the 
coeternity  of  them  all  three ;  or  if  they  were  so 
ignorant  of  the  mystery  of  the  incarnation,  and 
knew  not  even  the  unity  and  perfection  of  God, 
known  to  the  very  pagans  by  the  light  of  nature, 
and  were  so  far  from  understanding  the  Scriptures, 
that  they  did  not  read  them ;  and  if  they,  even  the 
most  famous  Fathers  of  the  three  first  centuries, 
were  such  poor  and  paltry  divines  as  he  represents 
them,  and  could  be  guilty,  not  only  of  such  gross 
ignorance,  but  also  of  the  most  capital  errors  and 
heresies,  there  must  soon  be  an  end  of  Christian 
faith  and  doctrine,  and  all  must  terminate  in  deism 
or  natural  religion.  For  confutation  therefore  of  all 
these  heavy  charges  against  these  ancient  witnesses 
of  our  religion,  the  learned  and  judicious  defence  of 
the  Ante-Nicene  Fathers  by  this  our  author  is  rightly 
appealed  to,  for  the  sake  of  our  common  Christianity, 
in  which  all  equally  are  concerned. 

But  here  it  is  very  remarkable,  that  our  author's  An  instance 
book  was   in   such    esteem   abroad,  both  with   Ro-  Dr.Bulft 
manists  and  protestants,  that  even  monsieur  Jurieu  e'SeemwTby 
himself  contended,  no  less  than  the  bishop  his  ad- Ro,manists 

and  pro- 

versary,  to  have  him  on  his  side,  saying,  that  Bull's  testants. 

n  Sect.  7,  9,  10,  12,  13,  14,  16. 


296  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  observations  and  his,  were  as  like  as  an  egg  to  an 
egg,  concerning  the  generation  of  the  Son  of  God. 
But  the  bishop  of  Meaux  replied  to  monsieur  Ju- 
rieu,  that  without  entering  into  all  the  particulars, 
it  was  enough  to  let  him  know,  that  he,  the  bishop, 
had  taken  from  him  in  one  word  all  the  ancients,  ly 
sending  him  to  BULL  ;  as  from  whom  he  might  learn 
the  true  explication  of  all  their  passages.  This  he 
did  in  his  very  first  advertisement,  written  against 
this  famous  French  minister  and  refugee.  But 
Jurieu  cared  not,  it  seems,  to  confess,  that  either 
our  author  was  favourable  to  the  side  of  his  adver 
sary  in  this  dispute,  or  that  so  learned  a  protestant 
as  Dr.  Bull  should  carry  away  from  him  all  his 
authors  together  at  once,  without  leaving  him  so 
much  as  one  of  them :  and  therefore  would  pre 
tend  in  his  Avis  a  M.  Beauval,  that  there  was  the 
nearest  agreement  betwixt  his  and  our  author's  sen 
timents,  as  to  all  these  matters,  but  more  particu 
larly  as  to  the  theology  of  the  Fathers,  concerning 
the  nativity  and  coming  forth  of  the  Son  of  God,  for 
the  creation  of  the  world.  Whereby  he  most  evi 
dently  injured  Dr.  Bull,  and  at  the  same  time  also 
exposed  himself  to  his  adversary,  when  there  was  no 
need  for  it. 

Mr.  Bull         LXIII.   Mr.  Bull  wrote   and    published    this    his 

twenty-se- 

ven  years    learned  and  judicious  treatise,  of  the  Defence  of  the 

Sudding-    Niceiie  Faith,   during    the    time    he    was   rector    of 

Suddington,    where    he    had    now   continued    about 

twenty-seven  years0;  and  for  twenty  years  of  that 


0   [He  told  to  Dr.  Parsons,  chancellor  of  the  diocese,  a  remark 
able  instance  of  the  longevity  of  his  parishioners  :   he  had  buried 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  297 

time  had  no  other  preferment  in  the  church,  but  1685. 
those  two  parishes  united,  after  the  manner  that 
hath  been  already  related ;  the  income  whereof  did 
not  amount  to  above  100/.  a  year,  clear  of  taxes. 
He  found  himself  very  early  under  a  necessity  of 
making  such  a  provision  of  books,  as  might  enable 
him  to  carry  on  his  theological  studies,  which  cost 
him  several  hundred  pounds,  for  he  was  placed  at  a 
distance  from  any  public  library,  which  is  a  great 
advantage  to  those  who  can  enjoy  such  a  benefit. 
His  family  grew  numerous  by  a  large  stock  of  chil 
dren,  who  were  to  be  maintained  and  educated  ;  his 
friends  were  always  received  with  great  hospitality, 
and  the  poor  with  a  charity  that  bordered  upon  pro- 
fuseness ;  with  all  this  he  had  several  great  losses, 
and  had  no  great  talent  in  that  wisdom,  which  con- 
sisteth  in  managing  an  estate  to  the  best  advantage ; 
by  these  means  he  was  reduced  to  great  straits,  and 
by  degrees  was  under  a  necessity  of  selling  his  patri 
monial  estate,  to  maintain  himself  in  the  service  of 
the  church.  But  yet  his  difficult  circumstances 
never  prevailed  upon  him  to  trouble  the  world  with 
complaints  concerning  them,  neither  did  he  abandon 
himself  to  discontent,  which  upon  such  occasions 
preyeth  upon  worldly  minds ;  none  of  these  things 
moved  him  from  pursuing  his  great  design  of  serv 
ing  the  church  of  God,  and  adorning  his  profession  ; 
and  it  pleased  the  good  providence  of  God,  remark 
ably  to  reward  his  Christian  trust  and  affiance ;  for 
when  he  was  at  the  lowest  ebb,  he  was  unexpectedly 
preferred  to  a  very  good  living. 

ten  persons,  whose  united  ages  amounted  to  one  thousand  years, 
and  two  of  them  were  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  years  of  age 
each.] 


298  THE  LIFE  OE 

1685.  It  was  in  the  year  1685,  when  Mr.  Bull  was  pre- 
pref^recT  seiited  to  the  rectory  of  Avening  in  Gloucestershire, 
to  Avening  }aro.e  parish,  about  eight  miles  in  compass,  the 

in  Glouces-  "el  * 

income  whereof  is  about  200A  a  year.  Ihe  patron 
of  it  is  Philip  Sheppard,  of  Minching  Hampton,  esq., 
a  very  worthy  gentleman,  eminent  for  his  probity, 
sobriety,  and  charity,  and  for  his  great  usefulness  in 
his  country  ;  for  he  not  only  administers  justice  with 
great  impartiality,  but  endeavoureth  to  reconcile  all 
quarrels  and  dissensions  among  his  neighbours,  be 
fore  they  break  into  a  flame,  and  before  his  neigh 
bours  lose  their  money  and  their  temper  in  legal 
prosecutions,  in  which  commonly  they  both  suffer. 
It  happened  that,  when  this  living  became  vacant, 
Mr.  Sheppard  and  Mr.  Bull,  with  some  other  friends, 
were  at  A  strop- Wells  in  Northamptonshire,  drink 
ing  those  mineral  waters  for  the  advantage  of  their 
health ;  and  they  were  even  together  with  some 
other  gentlemen,  when  Mr.  Sheppard  received  the 
news  of  it.  Upon  which  he  acquainted  the  com 
pany,  that  he  had  a  very  good  living  to  dispose  of, 
and  reckoned  up  all  those  qualifications  he  expected 
in  the  person  upon  whom  he  should  bestow  it ; 
which  so  exactly  agreed  to  Mr.  Bull's  character,  that 
every  one  present  plainly  perceived  that  Mr.  Shep 
pard  designed  to  determine  that  preferment  in  Mr. 
Bull's  favour.  But  he  had  too  much  humility  to 
make  the  application  to  himself,  and  therefore  took 
not  the  least  notice  of  it.  Some  time  after,  Mr.  Bull 
withdrew  with  some  of  the  company  to  walk  in  the 
garden,  which  opportunity  Mr.  Sheppard  took  to 
declare,  that  he  had  on  purpose  given  those  hints, 
that  Mr.  Bull  might  be  encouraged  to  apply  to  him 
for  it;  but  finding  his  modesty  was  too  great  to 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  299 

make  that  step,  lie  was  resolved  to  offer  it  to  him,    1685. 


who  had  more  merit  to  deserve  it,  than  assurance  to 
ask  for  it :  which  accordingly  he  did,  as  soon  as 
Mr.  Bull  returned  into  the  room  ;  which  he  received 
with  all  those  acknowledgments  which  were  due  for 
so  good  a  living  to  so  generous  a  patron. 

And  here  it  will  not  be  improper  to  observe,  that  His  natural 
Mr.  Bull  had  in  his  natural  temper  a  great  modesty  where  his 
and  backwardness  in  stirring  for  his  secular  interest ;  "oiu-erneT8 
he  endeavoured  to  deserve  preferments,  rather  than 
to  solicit  for  them  ;  and  his  mind  was  so  entirely 
taken  up  in  his  studies,  and  in  the  discharge  of  his 
pastoral  duties,  that  he  never  found  leisure  to  form 
schemes  for  his  own  advancement,  and  much  less 
time  to  prosecute  those  methods,  which  are  too  fre 
quently  submitted  to  in  order  to  obtain  it.  He 
often  thanked  God  for  this  happy  disposition  that 
was  placed  in  him,  which  he  said  had  guarded  him 
from  many  attempts,  very  unbecoming  his  holy  func 
tion,  and  had  secured  to  him  great  peace  of  mind,  in 
the  possession  of  what  he  enjoyed  in  the  church, 
which,  he  said,  divine  Providence  alone,  and  not  his 
application,  had  procured  for  him.  This  he  looked 
upon  as  the  true  Christian  primitive  wTay  of  being 
preferred,  VIRTUTE  AMBIRE  NON  FAVITO- 
RIBUS  ;  and  whenever  he  met  with  this  modest 
and  conscientious  temper,  he  encouraged  the  person 
steadily  to  pursue  his  duty,  and  to  depend  upon 
God. 

Upon  his  removing  to  AveningP,  one  of  his  first  The  state 
cares    was    to    rebuild    the    parsonage    house,    part  tion  of  the 
whereof  had  been  burnt  down,  sometime  before  he  {^enter 

P  [His  son-in-law,  archdeacon  Stephens,  succeeded  him  as  rec 
tor  of  Suddington.] 


300  THE  LIFE  OF 

1685.  became  incumbent.  This  expense  was  very  hard 
upon  a  person  who  was  never  beforehand  with  the 
world ;  but  being  necessary  for  the  conveniency  of 
his  family,  and  the  benefit  of  his  successors,  he 
cheerfully  engaged  in  it.  The  people  of  his  parish 
gave  Mr.  Bull,  for  some  time,  great  trouble  and 
uneasiness ;  there  were  many  of  them  very  loose  and 
dissolute,  and  many  more  disaffected  to  the  disci 
pline  and  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England.  This 
state  and  condition  of  the  parish  did  not  discourage 
Mr.  Bull  from  doing  his  duty,  though  it  occasioned 
him  many  difficulties  in  the  discharge  of  it ;  and  he 
suffered  many  indignities  and  reproaches,  with  ad 
mirable  patience  and  Christian  fortitude,  for  not 
complying  with  those  irregular  practices,  which  had 
too  long  prevailed  among  them.  But  by  steadiness 
and  resolution,  in  performing  his  holy  function  ac 
cording  to  the  rubric,  by  his  patient  demeanour  and 
prudent  carriage,  by  his  readiness  to  do  them  all 
offices  of  kindness,  and  particularly  by  his  great 
charity  to  the  poor,  who  in  that  place  were  very 
numerous,  he  did  in  the  end  remove  all  those  pre 
judices  which  they  had  entertained  against  him,  and 
reduced  them  to  such  a  temper,  as  rendered  his 
labours  effectual  among  them.  Insomuch,  that  they 
generally  became  constant  in  their  attendance  upon 
the  public  worship,  and  very  decent  in  their  beha 
viour  at  it ;  and  what  was  effected  with  the  greatest 
difficulty,  they  brought  their  children  to  be  baptized 
at  church  ;  for  when  all  other  arguments  failed,  the 
assurance  he  gave  them,  that  this  was  the  practice  of 
the  reformed  churches,  persuaded  them  to  comply 
without  any  farther  scruple.  Indeed  the  people  by 
degrees,  perceiving  that  he  had  no  design  upon  them 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  301 

but  their  own  good,  of  which  they  frequently  experi-  1685. 
mented  several  instances,  their  aversion  was  changed 
into  love  and  kindness ;  and  though  at  his  first  com 
ing  among  them,  they  expressed  a  great  deal  of  ani 
mosity  and  disrespect  to  his  person  and  family,  yet 
many  years  before  he  left  them,  they  seemed  highly 
sensible  of  their  error,  and  gave  many  signal  proofs 
of  their  hearty  good-will  towards  him  and  them  ; 
and  when  he  was  promoted  from  this  parish  to  the 
bishopric  of  St.  David,  no  people  could  testify  more 
concern  and  sorrow,  than  the  parishioners  did  upon 
this  occasion,  for  the  loss  of  those  advantages  which 
they  enjoyed  by  his  living  among  them.  And  I  am 
credibly  informed,  that  to  this  day  they  never  name 
him  without  expressions  of  gratitude  and  respect. 

For  some  time  before  his  coming  to  Avening,  he  He  keeps  a 

_  -  .,..,.  curate,  and 

had  made  use  or  a  curate  to  assist  him  in   his  pa-  his  manner 


rochial  duties  ;  but  that  help  became  now  much  more  hi,"" 
necessary,  by  reason  of  the  largeness  of  his  parish, 
and  the  ill  state  of  his  health,  which  he  had  very 
much  impaired  by  his  night  studies,  in  which  he 
had  taken  great  delight  during  the  vigour  of  his  age. 
Yet  notwithstanding  this  assistance,  except  he  was 
prevented  by  sickness,  he  preached  once  every  Lord's 
day,  and  read  the  prayers  frequently  himself  the 
other  part  of  the  day,  when  his  curate  preached. 
He  chose  to  divide  after  this  manner  the  public  ad 
ministrations,  that  the  people  might  not  entertain  a 
mean  opinion  of  his  curates,  as  if  they  were  not  quali 
fied  for  the  duties  of  the  pulpit ;  and  that  they  might 
have  better  thoughts  of  our  excellent  Liturgy,  when 
they  saw  the  parochial  minister  officiate  himself. 
He  very  frequently  condemned  the  wicked  practice 
(as  he  called  it)  of  those  incumbents,  who  by  their 


302  THE  LIFK  OF 

1685.  pride,  selfishness,  or  neglect,  give  countenance  to 
~~  those  fatal  mistakes  among  the  people.  There  was 
one  use  indeed  he  made  of  a  curate,  which  will  ap 
pear  surprising,  because  I  believe  seldom  or  never 
practised,  and  that  was  to  admonish  him  of  his 
faults;  the  proposal  was  from  himself,  that  they 
mio-ht  agree  from  that  time  to  tell  one  another 

o  o 

freely,  in  love  and  privacy,  what  they  observed  amiss 
in  each  other :  it  is  certain,  this  might  help  to  regu 
late  the  conduct  of  his  own  life  ;  but  it  had  this  pe 
culiar  advantage,  that  it  gave  him  a  handle  to  find 
fault  without  offence,  with  any  thing  that  appeared 
wrong  in  his  curate  ;  for  when  the  liberty  was  mu 
tual,  neither  of  them  could  be  blamed  for  the  use 
of  it.  I  relate  this  circumstance  with  the  more 
certainty,  because  I  received  the  information  of  it 
from  the  worthy  clergyman  himself  who  was  then  his 
curate,  and  with  whom  this  agreement  was  made. 

1686.  LX1V.  He  had  not  been  long  at  A  veiling,  before 
preferred  ne  was  preferred  to  the  archdeaconry  of  Landaff; 
s'ho^San1"  ^or  ^  aPPeareth  by  the  register  book  of  the  chapter 
croft  to  the  of  that  church,  that  Mr.  Bull  was  installed  archdea- 

archdea- 

conryof  con  the  20th  of  June,  1686.  This  considerable  post 
being  his  in  the  church  was  bestowed  upon  him  by  archbishop 
ficm.es0p  Bancroft,  whose  option  it  was;  and  purely  in  consi 
deration  of  the  great  and  eminent  services  he  had 
done  the  church  of  God,  by  his  learned  and  judicious 
works,  as  Dr.  Bately,  his  grace's  chaplain,  expressed 
it,  in  a  letter  writ  to  Mr.  Bull,  by  the  order  of  his 
lord.  The  manner  of  Mr.  Bull's  receiving  this  ho 
nourable  station  in  the  church  added  very  much  to 
his  reputation,  because  it  was  conferred  upon  him  by 
an  archbishop,  who  had  a  particular  regard  to  the 


DR.  GKORGE  BULL.  303 

merit  of  those  he  advanced,  without  any  solicitation     l686- 
or  application  made  by  Mr.  Bull  himself. 

And  indeed  what  could  be  expected  less  from  so  His  grace's 
venerable  a  prelate,  who  had  all  those  great  abilities01 
of  learning  and  wisdom,  of  piety  and  integrity,  joined 
with  a  prudent  zeal  for  the  honour  of  God,  and  the 
welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  church,  which  qualified 
him  for  that  elevated  station  wherein  the  providence 
of  God  had  placed  him ;  and  yet  at  the  same  time 
was  endowed  with  such  large  measures  of  mortifica 
tion  and  self-denial,  contempt  of  the  world  and  pas 
sive  courage,  as  enabled  him,  by  the  assistance  of 
God's  grace,  with  great  composure  of  mind,  to  sub 
mit  to  be  deprived  of  all  which  he  could  not  keep 
with  a  good  conscience,  as  it  is  expressed  on  the  left 
side  of  his  tomb,  by  his  grace's  order.  And  it  is 
affirmed  by  those  who  had  the  honour  to  be  better 
acquainted  with  him  than  I  was,  "  That  the  most 
"  greedy  worldling  never  enjoyed  half  that  solid 
"  complacency  in  the  most  lucky  and  fortunate  ac- 
"  quisitions,  as  his  grace  did,  in  being  reduced  to 
"  the  mean  circumstances  of  a  private  life."  For 
after  his  deprivation,  he  retired  into  the  country,  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  at  Fresingfield  in  Suffolk, 
where,  full  of  piety  and  good  works,  as  well  as  years, 
he  died  the  24th  of  November,  1693,  in  the  77th 
year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  in  the  churchyard 
of  the  aforesaid  parish,  against  the  south  wall  of  the 
church,  by  his  own  appointment.  It  is  certain  that 
this  great  man  had,  in  his  very  youth,  been  seasoned 
with  sufferings ;  and  in  the  flower  of  his  age  he  re 
fused  both  the  covenant  and  the  engagement ;  the 
taking  of  which  were  in  those  times  necessary  steps 
to  preferment;  though  one  oath  was  designed  to 


804  THE  LIFE  OF 

1686.  propagate  rebellion,  and  to  destroy  the  church,  and 
the  other  to  support  a  cruel  usurpation.  But  he 
chose  to  relinquish  his  interest  in  his  native  country, 
and  submitted  to  a  voluntary  exile,  rather  than 
advance  himself  by  the  rewards  of  ungodliness,  and 
own  an  unjust  power.  His  virtue  was  uniform  and 
of  a  piece  ;  for  when  he  was  in  his  greatest  ele 
vation,  he  declined  the  commands  of  his  lawful  and 
rightful  prince,  rather  than  obey  him  to  the  preju 
dice  of  the  true  religion  and  the  established  laws, 
which  are  certainly  the  measures  of  the  subject's  obe 
dience  ;  yet  he  would  not  resist  his  sovereign  to  save 
both,  because  he  apprehended  the  laws  of  the  land, 
as  well  as  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel,  expressly  forbid 
it ;  and  chose  rather  to  be  deprived  of  all  his  honours 
and  ecclesiastical  revenues,  than  to  violate  his  con 
science,  or  stain  the  purity  of  those  principles  which 
he  had  always  maintained  and  defended. 
The  nature  Having  mentioned  this  preferment  of  the  arch- 

of  an  option. 

deaconry  of  Landaff,  as  the  archbishop's  option,  I 
hope  it  will  not  be  thought  improper  to  add  some 
thing  concerning  the  nature  of  this  archiepiscopal 
privilege,  for  the  sake  of  such  readers  as  are  not 
much  versed  in  matters  of  this  nature ;  and  because 
I  have  met  with  none  of  those  writers  who  treat  of 
ecclesiastical  laws,  that  have  touched  upon  it.  And 
I  the  rather  choose  to  insert  it  here,  because  I  owe 
the  knowledge  I  shall  advance  upon  this  subject  to 
a  conversation  of  archbishop  Bancroft's,  who  is  well 
known  to  have  been  admirably  skilled  in  matters  of 
this  kind ;  though  if  the  learned  shall  discover  any 
mistakes  in  what  I  am  about  to  relate  in  this  mat 
ter,  I  am  very  willing  to  challenge  them  as  my  own ; 
for  they  are  certainly  due  to  the  imperfect  manner 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  305 

of  receiving,  what  was,  without  doubt,  delivered 
with  great  judgment  and  exactness.  To  explain 
therefore  this  privilege,  the  reader  must  know,  that 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  hath  a  right,  upon  the 
promotion  of  every  bishop  in  his  grace's  province,  to 
choose  any  one  ecclesiastical  preferment,  prebend,  or 
benefice  in  the  gift  of  such  bishop,  which  is  called 
the  archbishop's  option  ;  which  is  even  at  the  dis 
posal  of  the  executors  of  the  archbishop,  if  the  bishop 
that  is  promoted  doth  not  die  before  the  option  be- 
cometh  vacant.  This  prerogative  is  built  upon  im 
memorial  custom ;  it  having  been  found  by  archbi 
shop  Bancroft  so  acknowledged,  in  deeds  dated  above 
three  hundred  years  ago.  The  ground  of  this  right 
was  the  power  the  archbishop  had  to  impose  two 
persons  of  his  own  choice  upon  any  of  his  suffra 
gans,  for  their  chaplains,  upon  their  consecration ; 
which  persons,  the  respective  bishops,  at  first,  were 
obliged  to  maintain,  by  allowing  them  pensions,  till 
they  could  supply  them  with  preferments  out  of 
their  own  dioceses.  This  was  looked  upon  as  a 
great  grievance  to  the  bishops,  and  an  increase  of 
that  necessary  charge  which  attends  their  promo 
tion  ;  and  these  pensions  were  accounted  a  heavy 
burden,  because  the  bishops  were  forced  to  part  with 
their  ready  money  to  support  strangers.  The  com 
plaints  of  this  matter  being  very  frequent,  it  was  at 
last  accommodated  after  this  manner,  viz.,  That  the 
bishop  should  by  deed  grant  to  the  archbishop  such 
a  benefice  or  dignity  in  his  diocese  as  he  should 
name ;  but  this  grant  did  only  bind  the  bishop  who 
made  it,  and  not  his  successors.  To  remove  and 
supply  this  defect,  archbishop  Grindal  did  agree  with 
the  bishops,  that  they  should  make  a  grant  for  one 

x 


306  THE  LIFE  OF 

1686.  and  twenty  years,  but  then,  if  that  preferment  did 
not  fall  vacant  in  that  time,  the  grant  was  of  no 
effect.  Archbishop  Whitgift  carried  this  affair  still 
farther,  and  brought  the  bishop  to  insert  at  least  half 
a  score  preferments  in  their  grants,  reserving  to 
himself  a  liberty  to  fix  upon  the  first  that  became 
vacant.  But  after  the  statute  of  limitation  of  grants 
in  queen  Elizabeth's  time,  the  method  now  established 
seems  to  have  taken  place. 
The  degree  While  Mr.  Bull  was  at  Landaff,  upon  the  nomi- 

of"  doctor 

conferred  nation  of  bishop  Fell,  who  thought  it  a  shame  that 
by  the  uni-  such  a  man  should  be  suffered  to  lie  any  longer  in 
o3ord.°f  obscurity,  without  any  public  notice  taken  of,  or 
character  conferred  upon  him,  it  was  moved  in  a  full 
convocation  at  Oxford,  by  the  regius  professor  of 
divinity,  Dr.  Jane,  That  as  an  acknowledgment  of 
the  singular  honour  done  that  university,  and  of  the 
lasting  service  done  to  the  whole  church  by  Mr. 
George  Bull,  through  his  excellent  book  of  Defensio 
Fidei  Nicenez,  lately  printed  and  published  among 
them  ;  and  for  a  perpetual  testimony  of  their  esteem 
and  favour  for  a  person  of  his  merits,  he  should  be 
admitted  presently  to  the  degree  and  title  of  a  doc 
tor  in  divinity,  notwithstanding  that  he  had  never 
taken  any  academical  degree,  not  so  much  as  in 
arts.  To  which  the  convocation  of  that  learned 
body  most  readily  consented,  not  being  able  to 
refuse,  to  one  who  had  so  admirably  defended  the 
ancient  doctors  of  the  catholic  church,  an  honorary 
title,  which  had  been  deserved  by  him  on  more  than 
one  account ;  and  the  conferring  whereof  would  be 
no  less  honourable  to  themselves  than  him,  by  allow 
ing  him  a  name  in  their  Fasti,  among  the  modern 
doctors  of  the  Anglican  church,  which  the  universal 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  307 

suffrage  of  the  learned  work),  must  even  without  l686- 
this  their  authentic  declaration  have  advanced  him 
unto.  Whereupon  the  bishop  writ  a  letter,  to  thank 
Mr.  Bull  for  the  noble  present  he  had  made  him  in 
that  immortal  work,  and  to  acquaint  him  at  the 
same  time  with  the  honour  which  the  university  de 
signed  him  :  and  the  professor  writ  also  another  let 
ter  to  him,  giving  him  an  account  of  what  had  passed 
in  convocation,  with  respect  to  him,  in  consideration 
of  his  great  and  eminent  service  for  the  church  by 
his  last  book  ;  and  pressing  him  to  come  therefore  to 
Oxford,  that  he  might  there  receive  the  tokens  of 
their  esteem,  and  be  admitted  to  the  highest  degree 
of  honour  that  was  in  their  power  to  confer  on  any. 
Mr.  Bull  received  these  letters  at  Landaff,  where  he 
had  just  taken  possession  of  the  archdeaconry,  which 
archbishop  Sancroft  had  bestowed  upon  him  ;  where 
upon  he  came  to  Oxford  about  the  beginning  of  July, 
that  he  might  be  present  at  the  act,  in  order  for  per 
fecting  the  said  degree ;  and  upon  the  tenth  of  the 
said  month  was  created  doctor,  in  the  year 
MDCLXXXVI,  without  the  payment  of  the  usual 
fees. 


sermon  on 
Thursday 
in  every 


LXV.  I  have  already,  in  other  parts  of  this  Life,  Heesta- 
given  so  particular  an  account  of  Dr.  Bull's  method  Sf  s 
in  governing  his  parish,  and  of  his  manner  in  per 
forming1  the  duties  of  his  holy  function,  that  it  is  not  wfk>  ".lth 

*  catechising. 

necessary  to  add  any  thing  upon  that  subject,  farther 
than  what  of  that  nature  appears  to  have  been  pe 
culiar  to  his  conduct  at  Avening.  Now  the  state 
and  condition  of  that  parish  having  been  as  I  have 
before  related,  one  means  he  fixed  upon  in  order  to 
reform  it,  was  to  have  a  sermon  in  his  church  every 

x  2 


308  THE  LIFE  OF 

1686.  Thursday;  the  design  whereof  was,  farther  to  in- 
~  struct  the  people,  who  were  very  ignorant,  in  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  a  method  which 
was  not  unlikely  to  prevail  upon  them.  For  when 
they  found  him  so  zealous,  as  to  do  more  than  they 
thought  he  was  obliged  to,  they  were  ready  to  con 
clude,  that  their  welfare  was  the  great  motive  which 
influenced  him  ;  and  to  make  this  more  effectual,  the 
children  were  on  the  same  day  catechised  by  the 
curate,  which  still  tended  to  the  instruction  of  those 
of  riper  years  :  and  yet,  to  bring  this  good  design  to 
a  greater  perfection,  he  always  distributed  on  such 
days  five  shillings  among  the  poor,  that  they  might 
be  encouraged  to  attend  the  church  at  such  seasons. 
How  long  he  continued  this  practice  it  is  not  very 
certain,  though  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  he  pursued 
it  for  some  time. 

very  scm-  It  is  required  by  the  34th  canon,  that  the  candi- 
signing  tes-  dates  of  holy  orders,  among  other  preliminaries  ne 
cessary  for  ordination,  shall  bring  sufficient  testi 
monials  of  their  sober  life  and  conversation,  from 
such  as  have  known  and  lived  near  them  for  three 
years  before.  Now  upon  this  account  there  was 
frequent  application  made  to  Dr.  Bull,  during  his  re 
sidence  in  this  parish,  and  for  some  time  before,  to 
procure  his  hand  to  testimonials ;  for  his  fame  and 
reputation  were  become  so  considerable,  that  the 
characters  he  gave  had  great  weight  with  those  to 
whom  they  were  addressed.  But  he  was  very  nice 
as  to  this  particular ;  many  he  refused  who  impor 
tuned  him  for  his  recommendation,  and  he  took  some 
pains  to  satisfy  himself,  before  he  would  pretend  to 
satisfy  others.  It  hath  been  rightly  observed  by  my 
lord  Bacon,  "  That  nothing  is  thought  so  easy  a 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  309 

"  request  to  a  great  person,  as  his  letter,  and  yet  if  it  1686-94. 
"  be  not  in  a  good  cause,  it  is  so  much  out  of  his  re- 
"  putation."  For  it  reflects  upon  his  understanding, 
if  he  maketh  a  wrong  judgment ;  and  if  he  knoweth 
that  the  person  doth  not  deserve  the  character  given 
him,  he  is  certainly  liable  to  a  worse  censure.  But 
where  the  church  is  concerned,  the  consequences  are 
much  more  fatal ;  and  therefore  it  is  to  be  wished, 
that  all  persons  who  are  applied  to  upon  this  account 
to  sign  testimonials  would  be  very  conscientious  in 
this  matter ;  that  so  a  good  method  may  not  be  ren 
dered  ineffectual,  by  a  very  mischievous  complai 
sance,  of  which  a  strict  account  must  be  given  at  the 
last  day,  since  bishops  the  best  disposed  to  do  their 
duty  may  be  imposed  upon  by  eminent  hands. 

One  great  contest  he  had  with  the  disorderly  peo-  He  suppres- 
ple  of  Avening  related  to  the  observation  of  a  feast,  servatLn 'of 
which  was  attended  the  day  following  with  extra- 
vagant  revels.  It  is  true,  that  the  piety  of  our 
ancestors  did  set  apart  one  day  in  every  year,  to 
commemorate  the  dedication  of  the  public  place  of 
worship,  and  every  church  almost  had  its  anniversary  ; 
and  good  laws  were  enacted,  that  they  might  be 
both  solemnly  and  orderly  kept.  These  days  thus 
established  were  called  wakes  from  the  Saxon  word, 
which  signifies  to  watch.  But  the  observation  of 
them  degenerating  into  luxury,  they  grew  very 
grievous  to  all  sober  people,  and  the  good  reason  of 
their  institution  did  not  make  amends  for  the  obsti 
nate  abuse  of  them.  In  order  to  rectify  these  dis 
orders,  Dr.  Bull  appeared  against  them  in  the  pulpit, 
and  exposed  the  folly  and  madness  of  them,  with  a 
true  Christian  courage  :  for  he  did  not  fear  to  dis 
please  men,  when  the  honour  of  God  and  the  good 


310  THE  LIFE  OF 

1686-94.  of  souls  were  at  stake.  But  when  neither  his  in- 
~  structions  nor  his  exhortations,  both  in  public  and 
private,  could  prevail  upon  the  generality  of  them 
to  observe  that  regularity,  which  the  laws  of  Christ 
ianity  require  from  all  its  professors,  he  procured 
an  order  of  sessions  to  suppress  it ;  which  effectually 
put  an  end  to  it  many  years  before  he  left  the  place; 
but  it  cost  him  much  time  and  labour;  though  it 
was  usual  with  him  never  to  give  over  any  thing  of 
that  nature,  till  he  had  attained  the  good  end  he  at 
first  proposed. 

He  preaches      Durino'  the  reign  of  kino-  James  the  Second,  when 

against  po- 

peryinthe  our  apprehensions  of  the  increase  or  popery  were  no 
khfgnjames.  ways  groundless,  but  founded  in  those  measures, 
which  we  apparently  saw  were  taken  to  advance 
and  promote  it ;  then  it  was  that  Dr.  Bull  thought 
it  his  duty  chiefly  to  lay  open  the  errors  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  and  he  then  took  all  opportunities, 
both  in  his  own  parish  and  in  other  public  places 
where  he  was  called  to  preach,  as  at  Bath  and 
Gloucester,  and  in  a  visitation  sermon  at  Hampton, 
to  convince  the  people  how  much  they  would  hazard 
their  salvation,  if  ever  they  suffered  themselves  by 
sly  arts  and  insinuations  to  be  drawn  into  the  Ro 
man  communion;  wherein  they  had  made  many 
additions  to  the  primitive  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
and  had  required  their  novelties  to  be  received  as 
necessary  articles  of  faith,  though  the  holy  Scrip 
tures  and  primitive  antiquity  were  silent  concerning 
them,  and  in  some  points  expressly  against  them. 
These  errors  in  doctrine  he  aggravated  by  consider 
able  corruptions  in  her  public  offices  ;  which  were 
not  only  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and  consequently 
no  ways  edifying  to  the  people,  but  in  some  parts 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  311 

were  addressed  to  saints  and  angels,  contrary  to  1686-94. 
Scripture,  and  the  practice  of  the  primitive  church. 
It  must  be  owned,  that  Dr.  Bull  was  indeed  a  very 
frank  asserter  of  some  primitive  truths,  upon  which 
are  built  several  errors  of  the  church  of  Rome ;  and 
the  sermons,  which  are  now  printed,  will  furnish  the 
reader  with  several  instances  of  this  remark.  Now 
among  those  who  cannot  or  will  not  distinguish  the 
foundation  from  the  hay  and  stubble  that  is  built 
upon  it,  we  must  not  wonder  if  he  was  thought  too 
much  inclining  to  the  church  of  Rome  ;  which  un 
just  censure  was  confirmed  by  his  exact  conformity 
to  the  rules  of  the  church  of  England,  in  a  place 
where  the  people  were  under  great  prejudices,  both 
against  her  discipline  and  Liturgy.  But  this  ca 
lumny  hath  been  thrown  upon  the  greatest  lights  of 
our  church,  and  upon  one  of  the  best  men  that  ever 
swayed  the  sceptre  of  Great  Britain,  and  will  be 
the  fate  of  many  more,  who  shall  zealously  contend 
for  the  primitive  doctrines  and  discipline  of  Christ 
ianity  ;  and  surely,  if  that  excellent  prince,  king 
Charles  the  First,  and  that  primitive  prelate,  arch 
bishop  Laud,  could  not  escape  the  load  of  such  ma 
licious  and  groundless  imputations,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  if  others,  who  pursue  their  steps,  and 
tread  in  their  paths  of  religion,  though  they  move 
in  a  much  inferior  sphere,  meet  with  the  same  oblo 
quy  and  reproach  which  they  so  severely  felt.  But 
yet  in  the  day  of  any  trial,  the  men  of  this  charac 
ter  will  be  found  the  best  defenders  of  the  church 
of  England,  and  the  boldest  champions  against  the 
corruptions  of  the  church  of  Rome.  How  little  Dr. 
Bull  deserved  this  reflection,  appeared  now  by  his 
courage  and  resolution,  in  attacking  those  pernicious 


312  THE  LIFE  OF 

1686-94.  errors,  which  he  apprehended  might  gain  ground 
by  the  authority  and  favour  of  a  prince  upon  the 
throne,  who  was  unhappily  engaged  in  that  com 
munion.  For  Dr.  Bull,  like  a  vigilant  and  conscien 
tious  pastor,  warned  his  people  of  the  approaching 
danger,  supplied  them  with  arguments  for  the  hour 
of  temptation,  confirmed  them  in  the  principles  of 
the  protestant  religion,  and  made  them  sensible  how 
much  it  was  their  duty,  rather  to  expose  themselves 
to  any  temporal  sufferings,  than  embrace  such 
principles  and  practices,  as  tended  to  hazard  the 
salvation  of  their  immortal  souls. 

He  was          Some  time  after  the  revolution,  Dr.  Bull  was  put 

made  a 

justice  of    into  the  commission  of  the  peace,  in  which  he  con- 
peace  after     .  .  Ml     1 

therevoiu-  tmued,  with  some  little  interruption,  till  he  was 
made  a  bishop.  The  main  inducement,  which  pre 
vailed  upon  him  to  act  in  a  secular  post,  was,  that 
he  might  have  an  opportunity  to  put  the  laws  in 
execution  against  immorality  and  profaneness ;  that 
those  whom  he  could  not  convince  by  his  arguments, 
nor  persuade  by  his  affectionate  way  of  enforcing 
them,  might  be  terrified  into  better  manners  by  the 
sword  of  justice  which  was  put  into  his  hands.  To 
this  purpose,  though  he  declined  meddling  in  other 
matters,  which  no  ways  were  subservient  to  his  own 
profession,  yet  he  was  vigorous  in  suppressing  vice 
and  immorality,  and  by  the  help  of  some  clergymen 
in  his  neighbourhood,  who  procured  him  inform 
ations  against  common  swearers,  drunkards,  and 
profaners  of  the  Lord's  day,  he  was  very  successful. 
I  know  this  work  of  reformation  of  manners,  as 
under  the  care  and  management  of  a  society  for 
that  purpose,  lieth  under  some  prejudices,  even  with 
sober  and  understanding  persons  ;  but  I  believe  it 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  313 

chiefly  proceedeth  from  some  false  stories,  which  1686-94. 
have  been  raised  on  purpose  to  discredit  the  under 
taking;  which  calumnies  and  slanders  having  been 
too  easily  believed,  have  thrown  contempt  upon  the 
whole  work,  so  good  in  itself,  and  so  necessary  for 
the  welfare  of  the  community;  for  I  cannot  appre 
hend  what  service  the  best  laws  can  do  the  public, 
if  the  execution  of  them  is  discountenanced.  All 
that  can  be  desired  in  this  case  is,  that  an  impartial 
inquiry  may  be  made  into  such  reports  as  bear 
hard  upon  the  proceedings  of  the  society ;  and  I  am 
very  much  inclined  to  think,  that  generally  they 
will  be  found  false ;  which  opinion  I  ground  upon 
the  experience  I  have  made  of  this  kind  myself;  I 
am  sure  they  cannot  be  justly  condemned,  till  they 
have  been  admitted  to  a  fair  hearing ;  and  if  some 
little  indiscretion  should  be  discovered  in  the  ma 
nagement  of  some,  there  is  no  reason  that  should  be 
made  a  handle  to  disparage  all  such  useful  proceed 
ings.  It  must  be  owned,  that  it  requireth  great 
courage  and  resolution,  to  get  the  better  of  that  op 
position,  which  a  man  is  sure  to  meet  with  in  affairs 
of  this  nature,  from  the  world  and  the  Devil.  It 
requireth  a  zeal  according  to  knowledge,  to  act  in 
this  matter  from  a  principle  of  religion,  without  any 
mixture  of  malice  or  self-interest ;  and  great  pru 
dence  and  circumspection  is  necessary  to  determine 
the  best  manner  of  doing  this  good  work ;  but  above 
all,  the  strictness  of  their  own  lives  must  support 
that  zeal,  which  is  shewn  for  the  reformation  of 
others.  And  I  have  great  reason  to  think  that 
these  excellent  qualifications  have  not  been  wanting 
in  several  gentlemen,  who  have  consulted  together, 
to  give  a  check  to  those  disorderly  walkers  that 


314  THE  LIFE  OF 

1686-94.  abound  among  us.  I  am  sure  they  have  been  at 
~~  great  charges  to  support  the  expenses  of  legal  pro 
ceedings,  and  to  defend  constables  from  being  ma 
liciously  and  falsely  prosecuted,  and  to  make  them 
some  reparation  for  the  unreasonable  abuses  they 
have  met  with  upon  such  occasions ;  though  they 
who  have  lost  their  lives  in  discharge  of  their  oath 
and  duty,  by  endeavouring  to  detect  and  suppress 
vice  and  immorality,  as  it  is  certain  some  have  done, 
must  expect  their  reward  at  a  higher  tribunal.  It 
is  true  indeed,  that  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
their  vigorous  proceedings,  great  numbers  of  lewd 
persons  have  been  brought  to  legal  punishment,  and 
others  have  been  forced  to  abscond,  in  order  to 
escape  the  terror  of  the  laws ;  by  which  means,  seve 
ral  sinners  have  been  recovered  to  a  sense  of  their 
follies,  and  reclaimed  from  their  wicked  practices; 
at  least  bad  examples  have  been  removed  out  of 
sight,  arid  public  scandals  have  not  been  so  frequent. 
Which  is  sufficient  to  entitle  all  those,  who  labour  in 
this  difficult  province,  to  the  prayers  and  good  wishes 
and  substantial  encouragement  of  all  those  who  are 
concerned  for  the  welfare  of  their  country,  and  have 
the  honour  of  God  at  heart. 

1694.  LXVI.  In  the  year  1694,  Dr.  Bull,  while  rector 
c-~  °f  Evening,  published  his  Judicium  Ecclesia  Ca- 
ca-  tJwlictz,  &c.,  which  was  printed  at  Oxford,  and  writ- 

tholtcce  .  A 

written  a-  ten  in  defence  of  the  Anathema,  as  his  former  book 
P'  had  been  of  the  Faith,  pronounced  at  the  first 
council  of  Nice.  The  occasion  of  writing  this  trea 
tise  was,  that  in  his  reading  the  34th  chapter  of 
the  fourth  book  of  the  Institutions  of  Episcopius, 
where  he  treateth  concerning  the  necessity  of  be- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  315 

lieving  the  manner  of  the  divine  filiation  of  Jesus    1694. 


Christ,  and  putteth  this  question,  "  Whether  the 
"  fifth  (and  highest)  manner  of  Christ's  being  the 
"  Son  of  God  be  necessary  to  be  known  and  be- 
"  lieved,  and  whether  they  who  deny  the  same  are 
"  to  be  excommunicated  and  anathematized  ?"  he 
made  some  remarks  hereupon  for  his  own  private 
use,  and  drew  up  an  answer  to  the  arguments  of 
that  learned  writer,  whereby  he  was  persuaded,  that 
the  primitive  catholics  did  not  refuse  communion 
with  those  that  received  not  the  article  of  the  divine 
generation  or  filiation  of  Jesus  Christ,  if  they  ac 
knowledged  him  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  by  his  mira 
culous  conception  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  virtue  of  his 
mediatorial  office,  by  his  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
and  by  his  exaltation  to  sit  at  the  right  hand  of 
God  the  Father. 

Episcopius,  as  our  author  hath  observed,  was  a 
man  of  great  natural  parts,  and  more  than  commonly  scopes,  and 
learned  in  many  things;  but  he  was  one  who  very ^sA™°teVes 
little  consulted  or  cared  for  the  writings  of  the  a 
cient  Fathers ;  yea,  plainly  despised  them.  Whence, 
writing  against  Wading  the  Jesuit,  who  made  a 
mighty  boast  of  the  Fathers  and  councils,  as  if  they 
were  all  generally  on  his  side  against  the  protest- 
ants,  he  took  him  up  short,  telling  him  once  for 
all,  that  he  was  mistaken  in  thinking  to  draw  him 
into  such  an  endless  maze  and  labour,  at  which  he 
must  work  like  a  mill-horse,  for  the  sake  only  of  an 
empty  name :  and  that  he  did  not  envy  those,  who 
had  a  mind  to  be  always  roving  arid  fluctuating  in 
that  ocean  of  councils  and  Fathers,  and  to  be  lay 
ing  out  upon  them  all  their  time  and  pains,  the 
glory  of  being  esteemed  for  their  vast  reading  and 


316  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.  capacious  memory:  for  that  he  had  no  ambition  in 
him  after  a  fame  for  that,  which  cost  so  dear  and 
signified  so  little.  Wherefore  he  gave  the  Jesuit  to 
understand,  that  he  would  deal  with  him  with  other 
sort  of  weapons,  than  those  which  he  brought :  and 
that  because  he  did  not  think  any  great  stress  was 
to  be  laid  upon  the  Fathers  and  councils,  in  the 
points  controverted  betwixt  them,  since  they  were 
equally  challenged  by  both  sides,  he  had  resolved 
not  to  be  at  much  pains  about  them,  nor  to  purchase 
with  so  much  sweat,  that  which  he  might  afterwards 
come  to  repent  of.  But  it  were  much  to  have  been 
wished,  that  he  had  here  excepted  at  least  the  Fa 
thers  and  writers  of  the  three  first  centuries  of  the 
church.  For  most  certainly,  as  our  author  hath 
well  noted  hereupon,  had  he  expended  more  of  his 
time  and  study  in  reading  of  these,  he  would  herein 
have  taken  pains  not  to  be  repented  of,  either  by 
himself  or  the  Church  of  Christ.  For  it  is  his  judg 
ment,  that  so  learned  and  good  a  man  would  never 
have  undertaken  so  far  the  patronage  of  the  Arians 
and  Socinians,  as  to  excuse  their  doctrine  concern 
ing  the  person  of  our  Saviour,  by  the  pretended 
judgment  and  authority  of  the  primitive  church,  as 
if  it  were  but  erroneous  only  and  not  heretical  also. 
This  Dr.  Bull  could  no  ways  bear  to  hear  of,  who  is 
positive,  that  it  may  be  demonstrated  from  the  pre 
sent  remains  which  we  have  of  church  antiquity, 
that  all  those  churches  in  the  most  early  ages, 
which  are  in  this  case  appealed  to,  did  agree  to 
condemn  the  same,  as  a  most  pernicious  and  deadly 
heresy,  and  that  the  Fathers  of  the  council  of  Nice 
did  no  more  than  declare  herein  the  sentiment  of 
the  whole  catholic  and  apostolic  church,  or  of  all 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  317 

the   several    particular   churches   from   which    they     1694. 
came,  and  which  they  represented,  by  that  damna-~ 
tory  clause,   which   was   added    by  them    to    their 
confession  of  faith. 

The  form   of  the  anathema  pronounced   in   thatTheara«- 

thema  of 

council,  which  seemed  too  harsh  and  uncharitable  the  council 
to  Episcopius,  but  which  Dr.  Bull  hath  vindicated  defended 
from  all  the  objections  and  prejudices  raised  against 
it,  is  this ;  °  "  Them  that  say,  that  there  was  a  time 
"  when  he  was  not,  or  that  before  he  was  born  he  was 
"  not,  or  that  he  was  made  out  of  things  that  are  not, 
"  or  that  he  is  of  another  substance  or  essence ;  and 
"  them  that  maintain,  that  the  Son  of  God  is  created, 
"  or  convertible,  or  changeable ;  all  these  doth  the 
"  catholic  and  apostolical  church  anathematize."  But 
this  answer  of  Dr.  Bull  to  Episcopius,  in  defence  of 
the  said  anathema  of  the  council,  as  the  judgment  of 
the  whole  catholic  church  in  the  purest  ages  of  it, 
was  not  written  and  published  so  much  against 
Episcopius  himself,  or  against  his  disciple  Curcel- 
laeus,  who  hath  written  a  P  dissertation  also  much 
to  the  same  purpose,  or  against  any  of  the  learned 
abroad,  whether  Remonstrants  or  Unitarians  ;  as 
against  some  at  home  among  us,  to  whom  Dr.  Bull 
giveth  the  name  of  mediators,  for  joining  together 
two  extremes ;  who  in  their  writings  have  made  use 
of  the  arguments  of  Episcopius,  Curcellseus,  and 
even  of  Socinus  himself  for  this  end.  Against  such 
modern  reconcilers  as  these,  who  stood  indifferent 

°  TOIT  8f  \eyovTas,  TJV  irore,  ore  OVK  rjv,  Kal  irpiv  yfvvTjdrjvai  OVK  fjv, 
KOI  e£  OVK  OVTOIV  tyfvtro,  rj  f'£  erepas  VTrouraerecos  fj  ovcrias  (f)dcrKoi>T(H 
dvai,  77  KTKTTOV  r)  rptTTTov  f)  dX\oia>T6v  rbv  Yibv  rov  Qeov,  TOVTOVS 

i^fi  TJ  KadoXmr)  KOI  aTrocrroXtK?)  fKK\r)<Tia. 
De  Necessitate  Cognitionis  Christ! . 


318  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.  for  the  truth,  and  were  strangers  to  the  principles  of 
catholic  communion,  it  appeareth,  that  this  treatise 
was  principally  levelled  by  the  author.  Which  he 
designed  should  serve  for  a  supplement  to  his  De 
fence  of  the  Faith  declared  in  the  council  of  Nice. 
And  so  indeed  it  is,  and  a  vindication  of  that  Defence 
to  that  purpose. 

The  main  It  containetli  the  judgment  of  the  catholic  church 
and  design  of  the  three  first  centuries,  concerning  the  necessity 
°ngpth!ssh"  of  believing,  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  true  God. 
book-  In  his  premonition  to  the  reader,  the  author  hath 
given  us  an  account,  as  hath  been  hinted,  of  the 
occasion  and  design  of  his  engaging  against  that 
learned  writer  in  this  present  treatise.  Which  he 
hath  done  after  so  clear  and  distinct  a  manner,  as 
very  little  more,  besides  what  I  have  already  taken 
notice  of,  need  be  said  upon  it.  I  shall  only  there 
fore  here  observe,  that  about  the  same  time,  and  for 
some  few  years  before,  there  were  certain  discourses 
and  pamphlets  printed  in  English,  which,  under  the 
plausible  pretences  of  moderation  and  charity,  were 
for  breaking  down  all  the  fences  of  orthodox  and 
catholic  communion :  and  so  for  leaving  the  most 
fundamental  articles  of  the  Christian  faith  perfectly 
indifferent,  according  as  every  one  shall  be  inclined 
to  believe  more  or  less. 

With  this  design,  a  book,  called  The  Naked  Gospel, 
was  printed  at  Oxford  in  1690,  the  main  subject 
whereof  was,  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel,  which  our 
Lord  and  his  apostles  preached,  as  necessary  to  be 
believed ;  with  some  account  of  the  alterations  or 
additions,  which  after-ages  either  made,  or  are  pre 
tended  to  have  made  in  it ;  and  of  the  advantages 
and  damages  which  have  thereupon  ensued  to  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  319 

catholic  church  :  it  is  well  known,  that  this  book  1694. 
was  condemned,  and  ordered  to  be  publicly  burnt,  by 
the  convocation  of  the  university  of  Oxford,  upon 
the  19th  of  August  the  same  year ;  and  there  were 
two  large  answers  to  it  printed  the  next  year,  the 
one  written  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Long,  B.D. 
and  one  of  the  prebendaries  of  St.  Peter's  at  Exeter, 
and  the  other  by  Mr.  William  Nichols,  M.  A.  who 
was  a  fellow  of  Merton,  and  then  chaplain  to  Ralph 
earl  of  Montague  ;  to  which  last  was  added,  a  short 
history  of  Socinianism,  by  the  same  author :  and  on 
the  other  side  there  was  published,  An  Historical 
Vindication  of  The  Naked  Gospel,  which  was  either 
written  originally  by  the  famous  Monsieur  Le  Clerc, 
or  else  by  him  translated  into  his  Life  of  Eusebius 
of  Caesarea,  as  by  comparing  them  will  easily  be 
seen.  There  were  also  spread  abroad  about  the 
same  time  several  small  Socinian  tracts,  as  The  .Fire 
continued  at  Oxford,  and  others,  which  under  the 
same  pretences  of  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  and 
mutual  forbearance,  carried  on  the  same  design,  and 
used  much  the  same  arguments  as  Episcopius  had 
done.  There  was  also  published  soon  after,  An 
earnest  and  compassionate  Suit  for  Forbearance,  to 
the  learned  Writers  of  some  Controversies  at  present; 
by  a  melancholy  Stander-by  ;  by  which  learned 
Writers  he  declared,  that  he  principally  meant 
Dr.  Sherlock  and  Dr.  South.  Whereto  Dr.  Sherlock 
returned  an  answer  with  a  great  deal  of  saltness,  in 
his  Apology  for  writing  against  the  Socinians.  To 
which  the  former  presently  replied,  calling  his  book, 
The  Antapology  of  the  melancholy  Stander-by;  in 
answer  to  the  dean  of  St.  Paul's  late  book,  falsely 
styled,  An  Apology  for  writing  against  the  Soci- 


320  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.  nians,  &c.,  which  produced,  A  Defence  of  the  dean 
of  St.  Paul's  Apology,  &c.,  in  answer  to  the  Anta- 
pologist:  and  so  this  debate  ended  between  the 
dean  and  the  stander-by. 

As  for  the  Historical  Vindication  before  mentioned, 
Dr.  Bull  thought  himself  a  little  more  particularly 
concerned  therein,  because  there  is  inserted  in  it  a 
pretty  large  account  of  the  Arian  controversy,  and 
of  the  management  of  the  contending  sides  before, 
and  at  the  great  council  of  Nice  ;  with  the  history 
of  a  great  many  facts,  somewhat  otherwise,  than  by 
him  had  been  represented  in  his  Defence  of  that 
council.  Wherefore  he  resolved  to  take  some  notice 
of  the  contents  hereof,  both  in  this  present  treatise 
of  the  Judgment  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  in 
another  of  the  Primitive  Tradition,  but  with  very 
little  notice  of  the  book  itself,  as  not  deserving  it  in 
his  opinion.  The  multitude  then,  of  such  sort  of 
pamphlets  and  tracts,  was  a  main  occasion  of  his 
printing  at  this  time  this  most  learned  piece:  and 
his  design  therein  was  undoubtedly  to  limit  the 
terms  of  catholic  communion  to  the  orthodox  faith, 
against  the  latitudinarian  notions  of  the  times. 

A  short  ab-      LXVII.  He  hath  made  a  collection  in  this  trea- 
amtents '   two  of  testimonies  from  the  primitive  Fathers,  which 
thod.me"     ar£ue  not  onty  tne  truth  of  the  divinity  of  our  blessed 
Saviour,  but  also  the  necessity  for  a  Christian  to  be 
lieve  the  same,  in  order  to  be  saved :  and  thus  the 
precarious  assertion  of  Episcopius  and  his  disciples 
is  confuted  and  overturned  by  our  author.     Then  he 
hath  next   given  us  an  historical  account  of  those 
primitive  heretics  who  first  opposed  the  catholic  and 
apostolical  tradition,  concerning   the  incarnation   of 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  321 

the  Son  of  God,  and  the  two  natures  in  the  person  '  694. 
of  Christ:  and  at  large  justified  the  charge  against 
the  Cerinthians  and  the  Ebionites,  for  detracting 
from  the  dignity  of  our  Lord,  in  answer  to  the  ob 
jections  of  Dr.  Zuicker  and  others.  So  that  as  in 
the  Defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith  there  are  the  wit 
nesses  of  the  three  first  centuries  for  the  Trinity 
and  incarnation  of  the  eternal  Word  considered  ;  in 
the  Judgment  of  the  Catholic  Church,  there  are 
the  witnesses  of  those  three  centuries  also  against 
those  doctrines  examined,  and  balanced  with  the 
former.  And  farther,  he  hath  given  such  an  account 
of  the  ancient  creeds,  and  more  particularly  of  the 
first  and  most  ancient  creed  of  all,  and  the  explica 
tions  thereof,  which  are  found  in  Irenseus  and  Ter- 
tullian,  as  it  will  be  very  hard  after  him  to  add  any 
farther  light  to  that  matter.  For  all  what  the  elder 
Vossius^,  with  so  much  pains  and  judgment,  had 
collected  upon  this  subject,  with  what  our  most 
learned  and  pious  archbishop  Usher1"  had  also  writ 
ten  hereupon,  after  mature  deliberation  upon  the 
whole,  will  be  found  applied  with  great  skill,  and  set 
in  a  very  advantageous  light,  for  removing  all  manner 
of  doubts  concerning  the  ancient  judgment  of  the 
Christian  church,  both  eastern  and  western,  con 
cerning  these  matters.  And  therefore  the  creed, 
which  is  commonly  called  the  Apostles  Creed,  and 
which  evidently  was  the  creed  of  the  Latin  and 
western  church,  is  here  so  explained  and  defended, 
according  to  most  ancient  testimonies,  as  wholly  to 

q  [Dissertatio  de  3  Symbolis,  Apostolico,  dthanasiano,  et  Constan- 
tinopolitano.  1642.] 

r  [Tractatus  de  Romans  Ecdesice  Symbolo  Apostolico  vetere  et 
aliis  fidel  formulis .  1647  et  1660.] 

Y 


322  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.    take    away   the    edge    of   those    arguments,    which 
"both    Episcopius    and    Sandius,    with    the    English 
Unitarians,    have    thence     drawn    to    serve    their 
hypothesis. 

In  the  handling  of  this  subject  he  is  pretty  large, 
and  midertaketh  to  demonstrate  these  four  propo 
sitions  or  theses ;  viz.  "  I.  That  the  apostolical  Creed 
"  (so  called,)  however  conformable  to  the  apostolical 
"  doctrine,  yet  was  not  dictated  by  the  apostles 
"  themselves,  in  that  form  and  method  which  we 
"  have  it  in  at  this  day ;  but  that  it  was  properly 
"  the  creed  of  the  Roman  church,  which  received  its 
"  completion  and  perfection  in  that  church  about 
"  four  hundred  years  or  more  after  Christ,  the 
"  churches  of  the  east  using  all  that  time  another 
"  creed.  II.  That  the  ancient  church  of  Rome  had 
"  reason  to  use,  and  did  accordingly  use,  a  shorter 
"  and  more  succinct  creed  than  that  which  the 
"  eastern  churches  were  under  a  necessity  of  using ; 
"  forasmuch  0as  these  were  disturbed  with  all  manner 
"  of  heresies,  but  in  the  Roman  church  there  was  no 
"  heresy  started  up,  which  adventured  to  expound 
"  her  more  brief  confession,  otherwise  than  according 
"  to  the  orthodox  and  catholic  meaning,  and  the 
"  genuine  sense  of  the  church.  III.  That  in  the 
"  Roman  (or  Apostolic)  Creed  there  is  truly  contained 
"  a  profession  of  the  divine  generation  of  Christ  in 
"  those  words,  And  I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  his 
"  only  Son.  IV.  That  in  the  creed  or  rule  of  faith, 
"  which  obtained  in  the  most  ancient  churches  of 
"  the  east  before  the  first  council  of  Nice,  this  divine 
"  eternal  generation,  or  most  peculiar  manner  of  the 
"  Sonship  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  is  delivered  and 
"  declared." 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  323 

The  first  thesis  is  so  learnedly  defended  by  the     1694. 


great  Vossius,  that  all  the  critics  in  general,  both  of 
the  Roman  and  protestant  communions,  have  since 
the  publication  of  his  most  famous  book  concerning 
the  three  Creeds  herein  with  him  concurred,  and 
rested  in  his  determination.  Dr.  Bull,  among  the 
rest,  concluded  the  arguments  there  brought  to  be 
demonstrative  in  this  case,  and  to  need  therefore  no 
farther  confirmation.  And  indeed  the  English  So- 
cinians,  by  their  nibbling  at  them,  in  opposition 
chiefly  to  Dr.  Bull,  have  but  thereby  contributed  the 
more  to  the  establishing  the  truth  of  the  discovery 
which  Vossius  had  made,  and  the  exposing  of  their 
own  weakness  and  ignorance,  in  researches  of  this 
nature.  The  second  and  third  of  these  theses  he 
hath  fully  explained  and  defended :  and  hath,  on 
this  occasion,  with  great  accurateness,  considered  all 
the  several  modes  of  divine  filiation,  which  are 
declared  by  Episcopius,  in  order  to  a  right  and  tho 
rough  stating  of  the  question  betwixt  them  ;  and 
clearly  answered  the  arguments  brought  by  him,  for 
understanding  the  divine  generation  of  our  Lord,  as 
he  is  the  only-begotten  of  the  Father,  in  any  inferior 
sense.  Under  the  last  theses  he  hath  discoursed 
with  abundance  of  learning  upon  the  old  oriental 
rule  of  faith,  or  the  most  ancient  creed  that  is  extant 
of  the  Jewish  Christians,  being  the  Hierosolymitan 
Creed,  which  in  the  earliest  and  purest  ages  of  the 
church  was  explained  by  the  catechists  in  their  cate 
chetical  lectures,  throughout  the  churches  of  Palestine 
and  the  East,  as  appeareth  from  the  practice  of  St. 
Cyril,  when  he  was  a  catechist  in  the  church  of  Je 
rusalem,  whereof  he  was  created  afterwards  bishop, 

Y  2 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.  at  or  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century ;  and  as 
is  confirmed  also  by  the  confession  and  testimony  of 
another  bishop  out  of  Palestine,  when  sitting  in  the 
council  of  Nice,  even  no  less  a  man  than  the  cele 
brated  Eusebius  of  Csesarea,  who  hath  transcribed 
the  very  words  of  the  Hierosolymitan  Creed,  touch 
ing  the  article  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  the  profession 
of  his  faith  delivered  in  unto  the  Fathers  of  that 
council,  (one  small  variation  admitted  into  their 
symbol  only  excepted,)  according  to  what  he  had 
been  instructed,  when  a  catechumen  of  that  church 
of  apostolical  foundation.  The  antiquity  of  this 
creed  is  here  justified  by  most  solid  arguments  ;  and 
the  catechetical  exposition,  which  generally  passeth 
under  the  name  of  St.  Cyril,  is  vindicated  to  be  his, 
from  the  objections  which  some  critics  have  raised 
against  it.  Each  particular  article  of  it  is  examined, 
and  upon  a  most  careful  examination,  both  the 
whole,  and  all  the  parts  thereof,  are  found  to  be 
agreeable  to  the  ancient  creeds  and  confessions,  be 
fore  the  general  councils  of  Nice  and  Constantinople. 
The  creed  itself,  as  we  find  it  commented  upon  by 
that  holy  doctor  of  the  church,  is  as  followeth,  viz. 

The  Hiero-      /  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almiqhty,  Maker 

solymitan.  7  * 

Creed.  oj  heaven  and  earth,  and  of  all  things  visible  and 
invisible :  and  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  only-begotten,  born  of  the  Father  before  all 
worlds,  true  God,  by  whom  all  things  were  made; 
incarnate  and  made  man,  crucified  and  buried;  but 
who  rose  again  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  and 
ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  Father :  and  who  shall  come  to  judge  the  living 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  325 

and  the  dead.,  of  whose  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end :     l694- 
and  in   the   Holy   Ghost  the  Comforter,  who  hath  ~ 
spoken  by  the  prophets  :  and  in  the  baptism  of  repent 
ance  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins :   and  in  one  holy 
catholic  church  :  and  in  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh  : 
and  in  the  life  everlasting.     Amen. 

This  is  the  creed  expounded  by  that  ancient  A  farther 
bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  defended  by  Dr.  Bull,  toSTSiS 
be  more  ancient  than  those  creeds  from  which  some  ^^f11" 
pretend  that  it  was  borrowed:  yea,  attested  to  bythisbook- 
the  very  Arians  themselves,  as  he  hath  shewn  by 
several  of  their  own  confessions ;  and  by  their  very 
appeals  to  evangelical  and  apostolical  tradition ; 
whence  he  aptly  concludeth  them  to  be  self-con 
demned,  by  what  they  themselves  have  owned  to 
have  been  delivered  down  to  them  from  the  be 
ginning.  And  it  is  observable  here,  that  as  the 
church  of  Jerusalem  was,  without  controversy,  the 
most  ancient  of  all  the  oriental  churches;  and  the 
common  creed  of  that  church  probably  not  much 
less  ancient :  so  the  Arians,  as  coming  out  from  the 
oriental  Christians,  did  generally  frame  all  their  con 
fessions  of  faith,  as  near  to  that  rule  of  faith,  which 
had  been  received  in  their  churches  from  the  begin 
ning,  as  they  could ;  and  consequently  to  that  of 
Jerusalem,  as  did  Eusebius,  when  he  was  thought 
too  much  to  favour  that  side.  Now  upon  the  whole 
matter,  this  is  the  conclusion,  That  since  it  is  agreed 
upon  by  the  Arians  and  catholics,  that  by  the  rule 
of  faith  delivered  to  the  churches  from  the  beginning, 
all  were  bound  "  to  believe  in  the  only-begotten  Son 
"  of  God,  begotten  of  God  the  Father  before  all 
"  worlds,  very  God,  [or  perfect  God,]  by  whom  all 


326  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.  "things  were  made;"  there  can  be  no  other  diffi 
culty  remaining,  but  to  know  which  side  doth  best 
interpret  this  rule,  that  is,  most  agreeably  to  the 
obvious  sense  of  the  words,  and  the  received  inter 
pretation  of  the  church  :  and  he  hath  made  it  very 
manifest,  that  only  the  catholics  did  hold  the  genuine 
sense  of  this  rule,  by  believing  the  Son  to  be  of  the 
same  nature  and  essence  with  the  Father,  most  truly 
God ;  and  that  the  Arians  were  very  wide  from  the 
truth,  by  conceiving  him  to  be  a  creature,  and  made 
out  of  nothing,  and  so  no  other  than  a  vicarious 
God,  or  a  second  and  inferior  God.  The  rule  of 
faith  being  therefore  rightly  interpreted  by  the  ca 
tholics,  as  he  hath  proved,  and  as  Episcopius  himself 
doth  not  disown,  he  hath  thence  inferred  an  as 
sertion  directly  contrary  to  that  of  Episcopius8. 

8  [It  was  about  this  time  that  the  following  letter  was  written 
by  Dr.  Bull  to  Nelson,  and  which  is  preserved  in  the  British  Mu 
seum.  It  does  not  contain  any  thing  of  importance  :  but  so  few 
of  his  letters  being  preserved,  the  reader  will  perhaps  not  be  sorry 
to  have  it  published. 

Holburn,  London,  Aug.  6th, — 94. 
WORTHY  SIR, 

I  WAS  much  troubled,  when  lately  I  understood  by  my  sister 
Gregory  from  Mr.  Hanger's  family,  that  you  never  received  any 
answer  to  your  obliging  letter,  which  about  a  year  agoe  (with  two 
pamphlets)  you  sent  me.  I  doe  assure  you  that  as  soon  as  I 
could  have  leisure  cursorily  to  peruse  those  pamphlets,  I  wrote  a 
brief  answer  to  your  letter  and  them,  and  delivered  it  to  the  post 
with  my  own  hand.  I  directed  my  letter  to  be  left  for  you  with 
madam  Nelson,  at  her  house  in  Throgmorton- street,  behind  the 
old  Exchange.  Of  this  I  thought  good  to  inform  you,  that  you  may 
not  think  me  guilty  of  so  much  ill  nature  and  ill  breeding  too,  as  to 
slight  so  worthy  a  person  and  friend  as  you  are,  than  whom  I  scarce 
know  any  one  in  the  world  I  have  a  greater  respect  arid  (if  you 
will  admitt  of  that  friendly  word)  love  for.  I  have  sent  you,  to 
gether  with  this,  a  Latin  treatise  of  mine,  which  I  lately  published, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  327 

LXVIII.  Some  time  after  the  publication  of  the     1694. 
Judicium  Ecclesits  Catholics,  &c.  I  had  an  oppor-  br. 
tunity  of  sending  it  as  a  present  to  monsieur  Bos- 


SUET,  the  late  bishop  of  Meaux,  who  was  one  of  Catholic 

Church,&c. 

the    politest    writers    of  the    a#e,    and    verv   muchsentto  the 

bishop  of 

esteemed  in  France  for  his  great  learning,  as  well  as  Meaux  ; 

/»•..,  ,,  ,,  .  who,  with 

for  ins  good  sense  ;  and  less  could  not  be  expected  the  rest  of 


from  a  person  chose  for  preceptor,  to  instruct 

Dauphin  of  France,   at  a    time    when    that  nation  comPli:  . 

merited  the 

abounded  with  great  men.  This  considerable  pre-author- 
late  had,  upon  several  occasions,  expressed  a  great 
value  and  esteem  for  Dr.  Bull's  learning  and  judg 
ment  ;  so  that  from  the  commendations  the  bishop 
had  bestowed  upon  our  learned  author's  former  per 
formances,  I  thought  it  not  unlikely  that  his  lord 
ship  would  give  a  favourable  reception  to  this  pro 
duction,  which  was  so  very  acceptable  to  many  other 
learned  men.  And  indeed  I  was  not  disappointed 
in  my  expectations  ;  for  this  small  acknowledgment 
I  made  to  his  lordship,  for  the  many  great  favours 

and  which  I  intreat  you  to  accept  of.  I  do  not  yet  know  how 
to  direct  a  letter,  that  it  may  speedily  and  certainly  come  to  your 
hands.  If  you  will  give  me  direction  by  a  line  or  two,  I  shall 
very  gladly,  if  you  please,  maintain  a  frequent  intercourse  of  letters 
with  you.  I  have  been  some  few  days  in  London,  and  if  my 
occasions  would  have  permitted,  and  I  could  have  found  you  out, 
I  should  have  been  ambitious  of  kissing  your  hand.  Indeed  I 
truly  long  for  an  opportunity  of  seeing  your  face,  and  will  not  de- 
spaire  of  meeting  you  some  time  or  other  at  Avening  in  Glouces 
tershire  ;  where  no  man  living  should  be  more  welcome  to, 

SIR, 
Your  very  affectionate  and  faithful 

friend  and  humble  servant, 

GEO.  BULL. 

If  you  please  at  any  time  to  write  to  me,  direct  your  letter  thus  :  —  For 
Dr.  hull  at  Avening  near  Tcdbnry  in  Gloucestershire.] 


328  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.    he  was  pleased  to  confer  upon  me,  when  I  was  last 
in  France,  was  received  by  him  with  a  satisfaction, 
which  could  arise  from  nothing  so  much,  as  from  the 
entertainment  he  met  with  in  that  excellent  treatise. 
It  happened,   that  when  my  letter  and  Dr.  Bull's 
book  were  delivered  to  his  lordship,  he  was  then  at 
St.  Germain's  en  Laye,  with  the  rest  of  his  brethren 
met  in  a  general  assembly,  which  is  composed  of  all 
the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  the  kingdom  of  France. 
If  through  age  or  infirmity,  or  from  some  other  rea 
sonable  cause,  any  of  these  prelates  are  hindered 
from  giving  their  attendance   upon   such  occasions, 
they  have  the  liberty  of  constituting  their  proxies. 
The  usual  place  of  their  meeting  is  either  Paris  or 
St.  Germain,  but  there  is  none  fixed  for  that  pur 
pose,   because  the  appointment   thereof  dependeth 
entirely  upon    the   king's    pleasure ;    no    particular 
archbishop  or  bishop  hath  a  right  to  preside  in  this 
assembly,  because  it  belongeth  to  the  king  to  nomi 
nate,  though  commonly  the  honour  of  being  presi 
dent   is  conferred    upon    the   archbishop    of  Paris. 
Upon  this  occasion,  the  bishop  of  Meaux  not  only 
read  Dr.  Bull's  book  with  great  care  arid  exactness 
himself,  but  thought  fit  to  communicate  it  to  several 
other  bishops   of  the  greatest  eminence,    for   their 
learning  and   skill  in  divinity,  and  for  those  other 
talents,  which  are  necessary  to  adorn  that  high  sta 
tion  in  the  church.     They  also  perused  it  with  no 
less  pleasure  than  satisfaction  ;   the  result  whereof 
was,  to  make  a  compliment  to  the  author  from  that 
great  and  learned  body ;  and  I  was  desired  by  the 
bishop  of  Meaux,  in  a  letter  from  his  lordship,  not 
only  to  return  Dr.  Bull  his  humble  thanks,  but  the 
unfeigned  congratulations   of  the    whole    clergy   of 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  329 

France,   assembled    then    at    St.  Germains,  for  the     1694. 
orreat  service  he  had  done  to  the  catholic  church,  in  " 

O 

so  well  defending  her  determination  of  the  necessity 
of  believing  the  divinity  of  the  Son  of  God.  The 
letter  which  his  lordship  wrote  to  me  upon  that 
occasion  hath  been  already  printed  in  the  first 
volume  of  Dr.  Hickes's  controversial  letters  * ;  but  I 
believe  it  will  not  be  thought  improper  to  insert  it 
in  Dr.  Bull's  Life,  as  a  monument  of  that  respect 
which  was  paid  to  his  writings,  by  so  illustrious  a 
prelate  as  the  bishop  of  Meaux,  and  by  so  learned  a 
body  as  the  clergy  of  France. 

A  Monsieur  Monsieur  Nelson,  a  Blackheath. 

+ 

A  St.  Germain  en  Laye,  24  Juil.  1700. 

J'AY  receu,  Monsieur,  depuis  quinze  jours  uneThebp.  of 
lettre,  dont  vous  m'honorez  de  Blackheath  aupres  J^" to" 
de  Londres,  le  18  Juillet  de  1'annee  passee,  en  m'en- Mr-  Nel.son 

concerning 

voyant  un  livre  du  Docteur  Bullus,  entitule,  Jffrfi-Dr.Bull 
cium  EcclesitE  Catliolicce,  &c.  Je  vous  dirai  d'abord, 
Monsieur,  que  je  ressentis  beaucoup  de  joie  a  la  veue 
de  vostre  ecriture  et  de  vostre  nom,  et  que  je  fus  ravi 
de  cette  marque  de  vostre  souvenir.  Quant  a  1'ou- 
vrage  du  Docteur  Bullus,  j'ay  voulu  le  lire  entier, 
avant  que  de  vous  en  accuser  la  reception ;  afin  de 
vous  en  dire  mon  sentiment.  II  est  admirable,  et  la 
matiere  qu'il  traite  ne  pouvoit  estre  expliquee  plus 
savamment  et  plus  a  fond.  C'est  ce  que  je  vous 
supplie  de  vouloir  bien  luy  faire  savoir,  et  en  mesme 
temps  les  sinceres  congratulations  de  tout  le  clerge 
de  France  assemble  en  cette  ville,  pour  le  service 
qu'il  rend  a  1'Eglise  Catholique,  en  defendant  si  bien 

*  [Several  letters  which  passed  between  Dr.  George  Hickes  and 
a  popish  priest.   2  vols.  1705.  (see  p.  225.)] 


330  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.  le  jugement  qu'elle  a  porte  sur  la  necessite"  de  croire 
~  la  divinite  du  Fils  de  Dieu.  Qu'il  me  soit  permis  de 
luy  dire  qu'il  me  reste  un  seul  sujet  d'etonnement. 
C'est  qu'un  si  grand  liomme  qui  parle  si  bien  de 
1'Eglise,  du  salut  que  Ton  ne  trouve  qu'en  son  unite, 
et  de  1'assistance  infaillible  du  St.  Esprit  dans  le 
Concile  de  Nicee,  ce  qui  induit  la  mesme  grace  pour 
tous  les  autres  assemblez  dans  la  mesme  Eglise, 
puisse  demeurer  un  seul  moment  sans  la  reconnoistre. 
Ou  bien,  Monsieur,  qu'il  daigne  me  dire  comme  a  un 
zele  defenseur  de  la  doctrine  qu'il  enseigne,  ce  que 
c'est  done  qu'il  entend  par  ce  mot  Eglise  Catho- 
liquef  Estce  1'Eglise  Romaine,  et  celles  qui  luy  ad 
herent  ?  Estce  1'Eglise  Anglicane  ?  Estce  un  amas 
confus  de  societez  separees  les  unes  des  autres  ?  Et 
comment  peuvent  elles  estre  ce  royaume  de  J.  C. 
non  divise  en  luy  mesme,  et  qui  aussi  ne  doit  jamais 
perir?  Que  je  serai  console  d'avoir  sur  ce  sujet  un 
mot  de  response,  qui  m'explique  le  sentiment  d'uri 
si  grave  auteur.  Je  suis  tres  aise,  Monsieur,  d'apren- 
dre  dans  vostre  lettre  Fheureuse  nouvelle  de  la  sant^ 
de  Madame  vostre  femme,  que  je  recommande  de 
bon  coeur  a  Dieu,  avec  vous  et  vostre  famille.  Ceux 
qui  vous  ont  raconte  les  rares  talens  de  M.  1'Arche- 
vesque  de  Paris,  aujourd'hui  le  Cardinal  de  Noailles, 
vous  ont  dit  la  verite" ;  il  y  a  long  temps  que  la  chaire 
de  St.  Denis  n'a  este  si  dignement  remplie.  Si  M. 
Collier,  dont  vous  me  parlez,  a  fait  quelque  ecrit 
Latin  sur  la  nouvelle  spiritual!  te,  vous  m'obligerez 
de  me  1'envoyer.  Mais  sur  tout  n'oubliez  jamais  que 
je  suis  avec  beaucoup  de  sincerite, 

Monsieur, 
Vostre  tres-humble,  et 

tres-obeissant  serviteur, 

+  J.  BENIGNE,  E.  de  Meaux. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  331 

To  Mr.  Nelson,  at  Blachheath.  1694. 

+ 

St.  Germain  en  Laye,  24  July,  1700. 

I  RECEIVED,  sir,  about  a  fortnight  ago,  the  ho 
nour  of  your  letter  from  Blackheath  near  London, 
dated  the  18th  of  July  of  the  last  year,  when  at  the 
same  time  you  sent  me  Dr.  Bull's  book,  entitled, 
Judiciiim  Ecclesice  Catholicee,  &c.  I  must  first, 
sir,  acquaint  you,  that  the  sight  of  your  hand  and 
name  gave  me  a  great  deal  of  joy,  and  that  I  was 
extremely  pleased  with  this  testimony  of  your  re 
membrance.  As  to  Dr.  Bull's  performance,  I  was 
willing  to  read  it  all  over,  before  I  acknowledged 
the  receipt  of  it,  that  I  might  be  able  to  give  you 
my  sense  of  it.  It  is  admirable,  and  the  matter  he 
treats  could  not  be  explained  with  greater  learning 
and  greater  judgment.  This  is  what  I  desire  you 
would  be  pleased  to  acquaint  him  with,  and  at  the 
same  time  with  the  unfeigned  congratulations  of  all 
the  clergy  of  France,  assembled  in  this  place,  for  the 
service  he  does  the  catholic  church,  in  so  well  de 
fending  her  determination  of  the  necessity  of  believ 
ing  the  divinity  of  the  Son  of  God.  Give  me  leave 
to  acquaint  him,  there  is  one  thing  I  wonder  at, 
which  is,  that  so  great  a  man,  who  speaks  so  ad 
vantageously  of  the  church,  of  salvation,  which  is 
obtained  only  in  unity  with  her,  and  of  the  infallible 
assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  council  of  Nice, 
which  infers  the  same  assistance  for  all  others  as 
sembled  in  the  same  church,  can  continue  a  moment 
without  acknowledging  her.  Or  rather,  sir,  let  him 
vouchsafe  to  tell  me,  who  am  a  zealous  defender  of 
the  doctrine  he  teaches,  what  it  is  he  means  by  the 


332  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.  term  catholic  church  f  Is  it  the  church  of  Rome, 
and  those  that  adhere  to  her?  Is  it  the  church  of 
England?  Is  it  a  confused  heap  of  societies  sepa 
rated  the  one  from  the  other?  And  how  can  they 
be  that  kingdom  of  Christ  not  divided  against  it 
self,  and  which  never  shall  perish?  It  would  be  a 
great  satisfaction  to  me  to  receive  some  answer  upon 
this  subject,  that  might  explain  the  opinion  of  so 
weighty  and  solid  an  author.  I  very  much  rejoice 
at  the  good  news  you  send  me  of  your  lady's  wel 
fare,  whom  I  heartily  pray  for,  with  you  and  your 
family.  You  have  been  rightly  informed  in  the  ac 
count  you  have  received  of  the  admirable  qualifica 
tions  of  the  archbishop  of  Paris,  now  cardinal  de 
Noailles ;  the  see  of  St.  Denis  has  not  for  a  long 
time  been  so  worthily  filled.  If  Mr.  Collier,  whom 
you  mention,  has  written  any  thing  in  Latin  con 
cerning  the  modern  mystical  divinity,  you  will  oblige 
me  in  conveying  it  to  me.  But  above  all  remember, 
that  I  am  with  a  great  deal  of  sincerity, 

Sir, 
Your  most  humble  and 

most  obedient  servant, 
+   J.  BENIGNE,  Bishop  of  Meaux. 

By  this  letter  the  reader  will  perceive  that  the 
bishop  of  Meaux  proposed  several  queries  to  Dr. 
Bull,  in  order  to  know  the  sentiments  of  so  consi 
derable  a  man  upon  those  subjects,  which  the  bishop 
expected  to  receive  with  no  small  degree  of  satisfac 
tion.  But  just  as  Dr.  Bull's  answer  came  to  my 
hands,  I  received  the  melancholy  news  of  the  bishop 
of  Meaux's  death11,  which  prevented  the  progress  of 
u  [He  died  j  2th  April,  1 704.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  333 

that  controversy  ;  which  we  might  have  expected  to  1694. 
have  seen  carried  on  with  great  decency,  and  to  very 
good  effect,  by  too  such  great  men,  though  of  dif 
ferent  communions,  if  the  providence  of  God  had 
not  put  a  stop  to  it,  by  taking  the  bishop  out  of  the 
world  before  Dr.  Bull's  letter  was  sent  to  himx. 

LXIX.  The  last  treatise  which   Dr.  Bull  wrote,  Dr.  Bull 
was,  y  The  Primitive   and  Apostolical  Tradition  o/his  Pnmt- 
the  Doctrine  received  in  the  Catholic  Church,   con-tl^0^ical 
cerninq  the  Diviniti/  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Tradition, 

&  •?      *  &c.  against 

asserted  and  evidently  demonstrated  against  Daniel 'Dr 

rr      •     7  771  •  77-7  f  •       ^ 

Zmcfcer  the  Prussian,  ana  his  late  followers  in  of 
England ;  which  was  published,  when  the  rest  ofs 
our  learned  author's  works  were  collected  into  one 
volume,  by  the  very  learned  and  pious  Dr.  Grabe ; 
of  which  there  will  be  an  account  given  in  the 
following  part  of  this  Life.  Now,  that  the  design 
of  our  author  may  be  the  better  understood  in  this 
excellent  piece,  it  will  be  necessary  to  give  some 
account  of  the  person  he  writes  against,  and  of  the 
scheme  Dr.  Zuicker  formed,  concerning  our  blessed 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  This  Daniel  Zuicker  was  born 
at  Dantzic,  in  the  year  1612,  and  was  bred  to  the 
profession  of  physic,  in  which  he  took  the  degree  of 
a  doctor.  He  was  a  person  of  a  very  inquisitive 
genius,  and  of  good  natural  parts,  but  somewhat 
over  bold ;  not  easily  to  be  satisfied  in  his  researches 

x  [The  letter  is  published  in  the  present  edition  of  his  works, 
and  is  entitled,  The  Corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  &c.] 

Y  Primitiva  et  Apostolica  Traditio  Dogmatis  in  Ecclesia  Catho- 
lica  recepti  de  Jesu  Christi  Servatoris  nostri  Divinitate  ;  asserta 
atque  evidenter  demonstrata  contra  Danielem  Zuickerum  Borus- 
sum,  ejusque  nuperos  in  Anglia  sectatores.  Lond.  1703. 


334  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.    after  truth;  and  of  great  assiduity  in  his  application 
"to  whatsoever  parts  of  learning  he  set  himself  to 

study. 

Bred  a  LU-  He  was  the  first  and  most  considerable  of  those 
turns  Uni-  Unitarian  writers,  which  have  fallen  under  the  ani 
madversion  of  Dr.  Bull ;  for  he  was  before  Sandius, 
and  both  Sandius  and  Mr.  Gilbert  Clerke  have  but 
copied  in  a  manner  after  this  learned  Dantzicker,  as 
also  the  rest  have  done,  that  have  engaged  on  that 
side  of  the  controversy.  zWhen  he  was  between 
the  age  of  thirty  and  forty,  he  set  himself  to  ex 
amine  into  the  pretensions  of  the  several  religions, 
professed  by  those  among  whom  he  lived  :  and  when 
he  was  now  seven  and  thirty  years  old,  he  wrote  and 
printed  a  dissertation  by  way  of  question,  Whether 
a  Christian  man  were  always  obliged  to  learn  and 
enquire?  And  about  half  a  year  after  that,  a  dis 
course  which  he  called,  A  short  and  true  demon 
stration  when  and  where  the  Holy  Scripture  ought 
to  be  properly  and  where  figuratively  explained 
and  understood.  Both  these  were  published  by 
him  in  the  High  Dutch,  his  own  native  language, 
with  the  Rules  and  Confession  of  zealous  Christ 
ians.  And  when  he  was  about  forty  years  old,  he 
published,  in  the  same  tongue,  an  historical  account 
of  the  grounds  of  his  quitting  the  opinion  in  which 
he  had  been  first  educated  ;  for  he  had  been  bred  a 
Lutheran.  But  upon  this  change  of  his  religion, 
being  obliged  to  leave  his  own  country,  he  retired 
into  Holland  for  security  and  convenience ;  where 
he  became  acquainted  with  Curcellaeus,  who  hath 
been  already  mentioned  :  and  there  is  added  to  his 

z  Bibliotheca  Anti-Trinitariorum.    Sandius. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  335 

famous  Quaternio,  a  dissertation  of  this  very  Zuicker,  l694- 
but  without  his  name,  against  Maresius,  the  great 
enemy  both  of  Curcellseus  and  Blondel.  The  title 
of  it  is,  Judicium  de  Johanna  Papissa  contra  Ma- 
resium  ;  in  which  he  discovered  a  great  fund  of  ec 
clesiastical  learning,  with  that  sagacity  and  penetra 
tion  of  judgment,  which  is  required  to  make  a  critic. 
At  or  about  the  same  time,  he  printed  at  Amster 
dam  his  &Irenicum  Irenicorum,  &c.,  or  the  Triple 
Rule  of  the  Reconciler  of  modern  Christians ;  the 
first  of  which  is  here  established  to  be  the  universal 
reason  of  mankind,  or  sound  sense ;  the  second,  the 
sacred  Scriptures ;  and  the  third,  catholic  tradition, 
or  testimonies  of  approved  ecclesiastical  writers. 
This  made  the  greatest  noise  of  all  his  writings, 
which  were  many,  and  drew  several  answers  to  it 
from  learned  men.  It  was  published  without  a 
name :  and  the  concealed  author  might  not  have 
been  discovered,  but  that  Sandius,  who  personally 
knew  him,  and  was  privy  to  the  secret,  resolved  to 
make  the  world  acquainted  with  this  piece  of  news, 
so  soon  as  it  was  safe  to  be  done.  The  good  Come- 
nius,  the  last  Bohemian  bishop,  was  unhappily  en 
gaged  in  this  controversy  with  Dr.  Zuicker  ;  where 
by  the  cause  did  suffer  not  a  little.  Zuicker  did 
unmercifully  triumph  over  the  honest  old  prelate, 
under  the  name  of  Irenico-masticV .  There  are  no 
less  than  three  several  vindications  of  his  Irenicum, 
successively  set  forth  by  himself,  against  the  attacks 
of  Comenius,  Hoornbechius,  and  others.  So  that 
there  wanted  still  a  solid  confutation  of  this  book, 

a  Irenicum  Irenicorum,  seu  Reconciliatoris  Christianorum  Ho- 
diernorum  norma  Triplex  ;  sana  omnium  hominum  Ratio,  Scrip- 
tura  Sacra,  et  Traditiones.  Amsterd.  1658.  121110. 


336  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694.  which  had  perverted  many,  and  continued  still  to 
do  mischief;  the  arguments  of  it  being  translated 
also,  and  new  dressed  up  in  our  own  tongue,  that 
the  infection  of  it  might  spread  here  :  upon  which 
Dr.  Bull  undertook  this  labour,  and  hath  acquitted 
himself  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  that  are  capable  of 
weighing  without  prejudice  what  he  hath  written. 
This  Dr.  Zuicker  hath  published  several  other  books, 
both  in  Latin  and  in  High  and  Low  Dutch,  upon 
variety  of  subjects,  but  chiefly  in  defence  of  the 
Unitarians.  He  died  at  Amsterdam  in  the  year 
1678,  aged  sixty-six  years  and  ten  months.  Now 
to  say  somewhat  of  his  sentiments,  and  particularly 
his  Irenicum. 

An  account      He  pretended,  that  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel 
this  doctor's  of  Christ,  according  as  it  was  believed  by  the  an- 


Nazarens,  was  first  corrupted  by  Simon  Magus 
and  his  disciples  :  that  the  most  primitive  Christ 
ians,  both  Jewish  and  Gentile,  believed  in  God  the 
Father,  as  in  the  one  only  true  God  ;  and  acknow 
ledged  not  Jesus  Christ  in  any  other  capacity,  but 
according  to  his  human  generation  only,  till  Pla- 
tonism  and  Gnosticism  crept  into  the  church  :  that 
the  disciples  of  this  Simon  first  interpolated  and 
changed  the  sound  doctrine  about  God  and  Christ, 
which  had  been  preached  by  the  apostles  of  our 
Lord  ;  and  introduced  another  Christ,  preexistent 
to,  and  distinct  from  him  that  was  born  of  the  Vir 
gin  Mary  :  that  the  eternal  and  divine  generation 
of  the  Word  was  no  better  than  a  dream  of  the  Si- 
monians,  destructive  of  the  common  notions  of  man 
kind,  and  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  as  built  upon 
that  man  whom  God  hath  anointed,  and  exalted  to 
be  a  Saviour  :  that  the  beginning  at  least  of  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  837 

Gospel  ascribed  to  St.  John  was  never  written  by  1694. 
that  apostle,  but  by  some  heretic  out  of  the  school  ~ 
of  Simon :  that  by  the  same  Simonian  heretics  were 
forged  certain  verses  under  the  name  of  Orpheus, 
making  mention  of  the  Voice  or  Word  of  the  Fa 
ther  begotten  by  him  before  the  world  was  created, 
and  whom  he  consulted  in  the  creation  thereof;  and 
that  Justin  Martyr,  being  imposed  upon  by  these 
pretended  Orphaic  verses,  as  if  they  had  verily  been 
composed  by  Orpheus  himself,  and  by  him  derived 
from  Moses,  had  thence  taken  up  his  opinion  con 
cerning  the  generation  of  Christ  from  God  the  Fa 
ther,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  as  theMind, 
the  Voice,  the  Reason  of  the  Father,  to  the  end  the 
world  might  through  his  begotten  Mind  or  Voice  be 
brought  forth,  and  that  this  divine  offspring  might 
descend  to  converse  among  men,  and  might  at  length 
become  himself  also  a  man :  that  besides  the  early 
perversion  of  the  Gospel  by  the  Simonian  magic, 
and  by  the  forgery  of  the  Orphaic  and  Sibylline 
oracles,  there  were  several  other  reasons  that  con 
curred  to  induce  Justin  and  his  followers  to  embrace 
so  easily  the  opinion  of  the  preexistence  of  Christ 
and  his  generation  before  all  worlds ;  such  as  Jus 
tin's  acquaintance  with  and  affection  for  the  Pla 
tonic  philosophy,  the  memory  of  paganism  not  yet 
obliterated,  some  traces  particularly  in  the  minds  of 
the  Gentile  converts,  and  prejudices  in  favour  of  the 
commonly  received  scheme  for  a  plurality  of  gods 
not  quite  extinct ;  the  ordinary  custom  of  deifying 
great  and  extraordinary  persons,  and  a  sort  of  natu 
ral  reluctance  in  all  to  the  worshipping  of  any  one 
who  is  no  more  than  man.  From  all  which  he  con 
cluded,  that  the  preexistence  and  divine  generation 


338  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694-  of  our  Saviour  was  unknown  to  the  apostles;  and 
17°3'  that  it  was  an  opinion  which  derived  itself  from 
Simon  Magus,  but  owed  its  growth  and  establish 
ment  to  pagan  philosophers  embracing  the  Christian 
religion,  and  blending  their  philosophy  with  it ;  and 
therefore  he  laboured  to  expose  to  the  utmost  con 
tempt  the  greatest  manb  of  his  time  among  the 
heathen  converts  to  Christianity,  and  one  whose  pen 
had  served  twice  to  stop  the  fury  of  two  persecu 
tions,  by  two  famous  Apologies  which  he  wrote  in 
behalf  of  the  Christians ;  and  to  represent  this  very 
person  who  was  of  so  great  eminence  among  the 
primitive  Christians  and  martyrs,  and  who  lived  in 
communion  with  the  disciples  of  the  apostles,  as  the 
principal  corrupter  of  Christianity,  and  the  intruder 
of  a  new  Christ  and  a  new  Gospel,  because  he  hath 
spoken  so  plainly  of  the  preexistence  and  Godhead 
of  Christ.  Wherein  he  hath  been  followed  by  the 
author  of  the  Judgment  of  the  Fathers  touching 
the  Trinity,  who  hath  taken  out  of  his  quiver  the 
arrows  which  he  hath  shot  against  both  the  person 
and  the  doctrine  of  this  blessed  martyr;  and  by 
several  others,  who  have  written  in  defence  of  the 
ancient  heretics  and  heresies,  thereby  to  overthrow 
Dr.  Bull's  Defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith,  and  the 
authority  of  his  Ante-Nicene  witnesses. 

HOW  Dr.        LXX.  No  wonder  therefore  if  Dr,  Bull's  zeal  was 

Bull  was      ,  .     , ,     ,  .  , 

moved  to  kindled  against  such  writers  as  these,  when  he  found, 
gainstz'uic- wnat  ne  verily  believed  upon  the  strictest  examina- 
suchasV  tion  to  be  the  tme  apostolical  and  catholic  faith,  and 
pied  after  the  very  pillar  and  foundation  of  the  whole  Gospel, 

b  [Justin  Martyr.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  339 

to  be  thus  by  them  blasphemed:  to  see  the  most  1694- 
primitive  tradition  of  the  purest  ages  of  Christianity,  I7°3' 
concerning  the  divinity  of  the  Logos,  and  the  pre- 
existent  spiritual  nature  of  Christ  before  his  assump 
tion  of  the  servile  form  of  flesh,  to  be  represented  as 
no  other  than  the  very  spawn  of  Simonianism  and 
Cerinthianism,  or  as  a  relict  of  pagan  polytheism : 
and  to  find  those  heretics  who  renounced  the  very 
principles  of  Christianity,  and  denied  the  lawfulness 
of  calling  upon  Jesus  Christ,  confidently  set  up  and 
ranked  among  the  primitive  witnesses  of  the  Gos 
pel  ;  which  some  of  them  had  never  so  much  as 
once  embraced,  being  contented  to  live  in  the  com 
munion  of  the  synagogue,  and  hold  their  Jewish 
notions  concerning  the  person  of  Christ ;  and  from 
which  others  of  them  actually  apostatized,  denying 
the  Lord  that  bought  them ;  while  at  the  same 
time  the  most  substantial  and  venerable  evidences 
of  our  holy  faith  are  by  pretended  Christians  set 
aside,  and  loudly  cried  down  for  no  better  than  im 
postors  and  cheats ;  and  while  even  two  out  of  three 
of  the  heavenly  witnesses  themselves,  that  is,  the 
WORD  and  the  SPIRIT,  are  placed  by  them  in  the 
very  same  rank  with  those  c  Baalims  which  the  ido 
latrous  Jews  worshipped,  together  with  the  only  true 
God,  soon  after  the  decease  of  Joshua. 

Such  as  these  were  the  provocations  which  made 
Dr.  Bull  so  vehement  in  his  charge  against  some  of 
the  modern  Arians,  and  Samosatenians,  or  Socinians, 
as  to  give  the  former  the  name  of  AriomaniUs*, 
or  the  bewitched  Arians,  and  to  the  system  of  the 

c  Judgment  of  the  Fathers,  &c.  p.  48,  49. 
d  [Dr.  Bull  did  not  invent  this  term  :  it  is  used  by  Athanasius 
and  Epiphanius.] 

z  2 


340  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694-  latter,  that  of  the  atheistical  heresy ;  at  which  the 
!7°3-  English  Antitrinitarians,  who  about  this  time  boast 
ed  very  much  of  their  strength  and  numbers,  were  so 
desperately  incensed  against  him,  that  eone  in  the 
name  of  all  the  rest  declared,  that  no  respect  or 
tenderness  ought  to  be  shewn  him  by  any  Unita 
rian.  They  accused  him  of  mad  fzeal  and  bigotry, 
of  supercilious  malevolence  and  arrogance,  yea,  of 
barbarities  towards  them ;  they  called  him  even  an 
Hildebrand,  for  his  uncourtlike  treating  of  them; 
and  for  breaking  the  cartel,  as  they  called  it,  of  ho 
nour  and  civility  that  was  thought  to  be  agreed  and 
established  between  persons  of  excellent  learning  or 
great  abilities,  when  they  happen  to  be  engaged  on 
contrary  sides;  they  railed  bitterly  at  him  for  his 
shewing  so  very  little  deference  to  the  merit  of  their 
learning  and  penetration ;  for  his  contempt  of  their 
greatest  champions,  and  for  his  exposing  their  argu 
ments,  as  no  better  than  mere  sophistries,  without 
the  least  degree  of  pity;  they  upbraided  him  with 
want  of  good  manners ;  and  they  imputed  his  writ 
ing  so  warmly  and  heartily  in  defence  of  the  Nicene 
faith,  either  to  his  fear  or  to  his  ambition,  or  to 
both,  and  not  to  any  regard  for  the  truth,  or  esteem 
for  primitive  and  genuine  Christianity ;  they  pre 
tended,  that  he  was  so  apprehensive  of  the  growing 
interest  of  the  Unitarians  in  this  kingdom,  as  almost 
to  be  afraid  lest  it  might  one  day  be  strong  enough 
to  turn  him  out  of  his  parsonage  or  prebend ;  and 
that  this  was  one  principal  motive  of  his  appearing 

e  The  Judgment  of  the  Fathers  concerning  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  &c.  Printed  an.  1695. 

f  Considerations  on  the  Explications  of  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  &c.  1694. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  841 

so  zealously  against  them,  both  from  the  pulpit  and  1694- 
the  press  :  they  insinuated  also,  that  he  intended  I7°3' 
by  the  books  written  against  them,  to  recommend 
himself  to  his  superiors  in  the  church,  and  merit 
a  bishopric  or  a  deanery.  I  have  not  concealed  any 
part  of  their  charge  against  this  great  man,  or 
covered  over  their  suspicions  of  him,  as  if  his  good 
name  were  any  ways  in  danger  hereby,  or  as  if  the 
cause  which  he  defended  could  be  hurt  by  such  a 
method  as  this.  No  ;  they  are  extremely  mistaken 
who  think  any  such  thing  ;  and  the  adversaries 
themselves  do  in  effect  confess  as  much,  while  they 
so  violently  exclaim  against  the  appearance  of  it  in 
another  ;  and  it  is  much  more  probable,  that  Dr. 
Bull's  labours  in  vindication  of  the  true  apostolical 
faith  must  needs  have  done  much  good  in  the  world, 
since  these  gentlemen  were  so  exasperated  against 
them  and  their  author. 

Upon  the  occasion  of  these  extravagant  positions  The  sub- 
of  Dr.  Zuicker,  and  of  others  who  had  copied  after  Dr'/Buii's 
him,  in  fiercely  opposing  the  catholic  tradition  of  the  ^7/^ 
preexistence  and  divine  nature  of  our  Lord,  D 

' 


.  Tradition, 

drew  up  the  Primitive  and  Apostolic  Tradition,  &c.,  &c.,  against 
which  we  have  already  mentioned;  and  I  think  a  and  others. 
clear  demonstration  will  here  be  found,  that  Justin 
Martyr  is  not,  as  is  pretended,  an  innovator  of  the 
Christian  faith,  in  the  article  concerning  the  person 
of  Christ  ;  that  he  was  not  deceived  herein  by  the 
frauds  and  artifices  of  the  disciples  of  Simon  Magus  ; 
that  he  never  learnt  from  the  school  of  Plato,  what 
he  delivered  concerning  the  Logos  ;  and  that  he 
was  far  from  any  design  of  intermixing  polytheism 
with  Christianity,  or  for  accommodating  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  to  the  Gentile  theology  :  but  that,  on  the 


342  THE  LIFE  OF 

1694-  contrary,  it  was  an  apostolical  tradition  derived  from 
I7°3'  the  first  Christian  churches,  that  our  Saviour  did 
exist  before  the  world  was  made  ;  and  that  the 
world  was  made  by  him  ;  that  the  doctrine  of  his 
Godhead  and  incarnation  could  not  come  forth  from 
the  school  of  that  sorcerer  Simon,  whose  sentiments 
very  widely  differed  from  the  catholic  tradition  of 
that  doctrine ;  and  that  it  was  impossible  to  have 
been  derived  either  from  the  Platonic  philosophers 
or  any  philosophical  economy,  or  condescension  to 
such,  whom  the  Christians  had  a  mind  to  win  over  to 
them.  Here  is  also  a  particular  and  most  accurate 
account  given  of  Hegesippus,  and  of  his  sentiments 
concerning  Christ's  person,  against  the  allegations 
of  some  modern  writers  amongst  us,  in  opposition 
to  the  catholic  faith :  as  likewise  of  the  primitive 
Nazarens,  and  of  the  first  bishops  of  Jerusalem, 
challenged  as  theirs  by  Dr.  Zuicker's  English  dis 
ciples.  The  reader  will,  besides,  be  here  entertained 
with  a  good  deal  of  curious  and  useful  learning, 
about  the  Sibylline  oracles  and  the  verses  of  Or 
pheus,  which  are  cited  by  sveeral  of  the  primitive 
writers  against  the  heathens.  In  short,  the  whole 
weight  of  the  controversy  is  here  brought  into  a 
small  compass ;  the  enemies  are  disarmed  of  their 
strongest  weapons ;  and  the  matter  is  decided  for 
the  catholics,  with  as  much  perspicuity  and  solidity 
as  can  be  desired. 


D!7°3;  LXXI.  In  the  year  1703,  Dr. Bull's  Latin  works, 
Latin  which  had  been  published  by  himself  at  several  times, 
k»ted  into  ail(^  upon  different  occasions,  as  hath  been  already 
one^oiume  related,  were  collected  together  into  one  volume  in 
Grabe.  folio ;  and  printed  by  Mr.  Richard  Smith,  bookseller 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  343 

in  London.  Dr.  Bull  being  now  advanced  in  years,  1703-5. 
and  oppressed  with  the  load  of  many  infirmities,  the" 
revising  and  correcting  this  impression  was  volun 
tarily  undertaken  by  his  particular  friend,  as  well  as 
mine,  that  truly  great  man,  Dr.  John  Ernest  Grabe, 
who  adorned  and  perfected  this  new  edition  with 
his  own  many  learned  annotations,  and  introduced 
it  into  the  world  with  an  admirable  preface,  which 
did  great  justice  to  our  excellent  author,  as  well  as 
to  his  learned  and  judicious  writings  s.  And  it  will 
appear  by  a  letter  of  Dr.  Bull's,  which  the  reader 
will  meet  with  in  the  following  sheets11,  that  lie 
had  a  very  grateful  sense  of  this  great  favour  of 
Dr.  Grabe's,  though  he  was  not  able  to  requite  it. 


But  who  can  mention  Dr.  Grabe  without  a  deep  Dr.  G 
and  particular  concern  for  the  loss  of  so  great  a  man, 
in  the  very  prime  of  his  age,  when  we  expected  to 
reap  the  fruit  of  his  indefatigable  studies,  which 
were  chiefly  conversant  about  Christian  antiquities  ; 
and  who  by  an  eminent  author  is  very  aptly  com 
pared  *  "  to  a  great  and  mighty  prince,  who  dying, 
"  leaves  behind  him  many  plans  of  noble  and  curious 
"  buildings  ;  foundations  of  others  ;  others  erected 
"  above  ground  ;  some  half,  others  almost,  and  others 
"  perfectly  finished.  Such  are  the  remains  left  us 

g  [In  1721  Bowyer  reprinted  Grabe's  edition  of  the  Latin  works 
of  Bull,  with  the  addition  of  Breves  Animadversiones  in  Tractatum 
Gilberti  Clerke,  which  Nelson  had  published.  He  is  said  to  have 
lost  2ool.  by  the  speculation.  Nichols's  Anecdotes,  vol.i.  p.  208-9.] 

h   [In  §.LXXXII.] 

i  Dr.  Hickes's  Discourse  concerning  Dr.  Grabe  and  his  manu 
scripts,  premised  to,  Some  Instances  of  the  Defects  and  Omissions  of 
Mr.  Whistons  Collections,  by  Dr.  Grabe.  Printed  by  H.Clements, 
1712. 


344  THE  LIFE  OF 

1703-5.  "  by  this  great  master-builder,  as  may  appear  by  the 
~  "  catalogue  of  his  manuscripts." 

All  the  learned,  who  could  best  judge  of  his  great 
talents,  readily  offer  him  that  incense  of  praise,  which 
is  justly  due  to  his  profound  erudition ;  whereby  he 
was  qualified  to  enlighten  the  dark  and  obscure  parts 
of  ecclesiastical  history,  to  trace  the  original  frame 
and  state  of  the  Christian  church,  and  to  restore  the 
sacred  volumes,  the  pillars  of  our  faith,  to  their  pri 
mitive  perfection. 

He  had  so  great  a  zeal  for  promoting  the  ancient 
government  and  discipline  of  the  church,  among  all 
those  who  had  separated  themselves  from  the  corrup 
tions  and  superstitions  of  the  church  of  Rome,  that 
he  formed  a  plan,  and  made  some  advances  in  it,  for 
restoring  the  episcopal  order  and  office  in  the  terri 
tories  of  the  king  of  Prussia  his  sovereign  ;  and  pro 
posed,  moreover,  to  introduce  a  Liturgy,  much  after 
the  model  of  the  English  service,  into  that  king's 
dominions  ;  and  recommended  likewise  the  use  of 
the  English  Liturgy  itself,  by  the  means  of  some  of 
his  friends,  to  a  certain  neighbouring  court.  By 
which  means  he  would  have  united  the  two  main 
bodies  of  protestants,  in  a  more  perfect  and  aposto 
lical  reformation,  than  that  upon  which  either  of 
them  did  yet  stand,  and  would  thereby  have  for 
tified  the  common  cause  of  their  protestation  against 
the  errors  of  popery.  But  yet  his  learned  studies 
did  not  so  engross  his  mind,  as  to  prevent  his  daily 
attending  the  hours  of  public  prayer,  to  which  pur 
pose  he  always  chose  his  lodgings  near  a  church : 
neither  did  the  applause  he  received  from  the  great 
est  men  of  the  age  so  exalt  him,  but  that  he  readily 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  345 

condescended  to  converse  with  those  of  the  lowest  1 703-5. 
understanding,  when  he  could  be  any  ways  service-  ~ 
able  to  them  in  their  spiritual  concerns. 

He  was  justly  esteemed  one  of  the  greatest  di 
vines  of  the  age ;  yet  the  great  modesty  of  his  tem 
per,  and  the  profound  humility  of  his  mind,  made 
him  prefer  others  before  himself.  He  laid  the  chief- 
est  stress  upon  the  constant  practice  of  the  virtues 
of  the  Christian  life,  and  was  also  a  strict  observer 
of  all  the  rules  of  the  apostolical  times,  and  of  the 
catholic  usages  of  the  first  Christians.  He  bore  his 
last  sickness,  which  deprived  the  world  of  so  great 
a  treasure,  with  most  exemplary  patience,  and  sub 
mission  to  the  will  of  God ;  and  exercised  all  those 
acts  of  devotion,  which  the  best  of  men  are  zealously 
intent  upon  in  their  last  labours  for  immortality. 
He  was  very  severe  upon  himself,  even  for  those 
common  human  frailties  which  are  apt  to  cleave 
to  those  of  the  greatest  eminence  for  their  sanctity, 
and,  with  true  compunction,  bewailed  the  neglects 
and  omissions  of  his  duty,  which  from  the  unseason 
able  resort  of  company  he  sometimes  was  forced  to. 
And  yet  he  thanked  God  from  the  bottom  of  his 
heart,  that  through  the  assistance  of  his  grace,  he 
had  so  far  overcome  those  temptations  which  he 
had  met  with  in  life,  that  he  never  prostituted  his 
conscience  for  the  sake  of  gain,  or  defiled  his  body, 
which  he  always  had  kept  pure  from  the  mortal  sin 
of  uncleanness.  He  had  constantly  every  day,  and 
frequently  several  times  in  the  day,  the  office  of  the 
Visitation  of  the  Sick,  with  some  proper  collects  of 
his  own  choosing,  used  by  his  bedside,  and  he  com 
monly  desired  the  imposition  of  the  priest's  hands, 
when  the  absolution  or  blessing  was  pronounced 


346  THE  LIFE  OF 

1703-5.  over  him.  He  received  the  communion  of  our 
"  Lord's  body  and  blood  with  great  devotion  several 
times  during  his  severe  visitation,  to  fortify  him  in 
his  passage  to  eternity  ;  and  was  at  last  set  at  liberty 
from  the  bondage  of  his  mortal  body,  upon  the  3d 
of  November,  1711,  in  the  46th  year  of  his  age. 
The  occasion  of  his  death  was  a  bruise  which  he 
got  in  his  side,  at  the  place  of  his  liver,  when  he 
made  his  last  journey  to  Oxford  in  the  stage  coach, 
in  prosecuting  the  noble  work  he  had  in  hand  ; 
which  accident,  being  neglected  at  first,  upon  his 
return  to  London  became  thus  fatal. 

He  was  buried  a  few  days  after,  according  to  his 
order,  in  the  parish  church  of  St.  Pancras,  near 
London,  by  his  much  valued  friend  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Smalridge,  dean  of  Carlisle,  who  hath  that  justice 
paid  to  his  merit,  that  he  is  the  great  favourite  of 
all  learned  and  good  men  throughout  the  nation. 
And  it  must  be  acknowledged,  to  the  honour  of  the 
present  vicar  of  St.  Pancras,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Marshal,  that  he  refused  those  fees  which  were  due 
for  burying  in  the  chancel,  and  which  are  there 
very  considerable,  purely  out  of  respect  to  the  great 
character  of  the  person  who  was  interred. 
supported  There  is  one  circumstance  which  related  to  this 

in  his  sick-  . 

ness  by  the  excellent  man,  which  must  not  be  omitted,  because 


e™  it    tended  so  much  to  alleviate  the  burden  of  his 
ofOxfm-d   ^ast  sickness  ;  and  for  which  he  was  very  thankful 
and  Morti-  to  God,  and  his  generous  benefactor.     The  present 
lord  high  treasurer,  earl  of  Oxford  and  Mortimer, 
that  great  patron  of  learning  and  learned  men,  was 
in  a  particular  manner  a   Maecenas  to  Dr.  Grabe  ; 
and  during  his  lifetime  encouraged  his  great  work 
of  publishing  the  Alexandrian  copy  of  the  Septua- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  347 

gint,  not  only  by  generously  contributing  to  it  him-  i7°3-5- 
self,  but  by  procuring  for  the  doctor  a  large  propor 
tion  of  the  royal  bounty  ;  and  when  the  doctor  in 
his  sickness  applied  to  his  lordship  for  that  part  of 
his  annual  pension  which  was  due  to  him,  and  had 
been  constantly  paid  him,  his  lordship  not  only  gra 
tified  him  in  what  he  desired,  but  to  shew  his  great 
value  and  esteem  of  the  doctor,  and  for  fear  so 
great  a  man  should  want  any  necessary  comfort 
from  the  things  of  this  world  in  such  a  gloomy  sea 
son,  my  lord  sent  him  a  supply  of  fifty  pounds  from 
his  own  bounty.  An  action  for  which  his  lordship 
had  the  repeated  prayers  of  a  dying  saint,  and  for 
which  all  learned  and  good  men  must  praise  him, 
and  which  will  be  a  comfortable  part  of  that  strict 
account  which  he  must  give  at  the  great  tribunal. 
And  I  have  farther  reason  to  believe,  that  his  lord 
ship  designs  to  have  a  CENOTAPHIUM  erected  in 
St.  Paul's,  or  St.  Peter's  at  Westminster,  to  perpe 
tuate  the  memory  of  so  much  piety  and  so  much 
learning,  which  seldom  meet  together  in  such  great 
perfection  as  they  did  in  Dr.  Grabek. 

LXXII.  In  February  170^,  Dr.  Bull  was  made     '7°5- 

Dr.  Bull 

acquainted   with  her  majesty's   gracious   intentions  promoted  to 
of  conferring  upon  him  the  bishopric  of  St.  David's1,  r 


David's. 


k  [The  earl  of  Oxford  erected  a  monument  to  him  in  West 
minster-abbey.] 

1  [The  see  had  been  vacant  five  years  and  eight  months  since 
the  deprivation  of  Thomas  Watson,  the  last  bishop,  in  1699, 
upon  a  charge  of  simony.  Dr.  Bull  was  recommended  to  the 
queen  by  archbishop  Tenison  :  but  it  is  said  in  the  life  of  Arch 
bishop  Sharp,  that  "  though  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  seemed 
"  to  claim  the  merit,  yet  the  queen  told  the  archbishop  of  York, 


348  THE  LIFE  OF 

1705.  the  news  whereof  he  received  with  great  surprise, 
~and  with  no  less  concern.  And  considering  the 
great  weight  of  that  high  station  in  the  church,  and 
how  much  work  is  required  to  a  conscientious  dis 
charge  of  that  administration  ;  and  withal,  the  ill 
state  of  health  under  which  he  then  laboured,  and 
the  evening  of  life,  to  which  he  was  now  arrived, 
being  in  the  71st  year  of  his  age,  I  do  not  wonder 
that  he  did  at  first  decline  engaging  in  that  impor 
tant  office.  It  is  not  without  reason,  that  persons 
of  the  strongest  virtue,  in  the  vigour  of  their  days, 
who  best  deserve  the  most  honourable  employments 
in  the  church,  have  been  most  afraid  of  being  ad 
vanced  to  them  :  it  requireth  great  firmness  of  mind, 
not  to  be  dazzled  with  that  honour  which  adorneth 
the  episcopal  throne ;  and  how  difficult  is  it  to  be 
exalted,  and  not  to  love  the  preeminence  !  The 
respect  and  obsequiousness  of  inferiors  insensibly 
corrupt  the  mind,  and  when  men  are  placed  above 
reproof,  they  quickly  begin  to  persuade  themselves 
that  they  do  not  stand  in  need  of  it.  What  courage 
and  prudence  is  necessary  to  oppose  vice,  when  it  is 
countenanced  by  persons  of  figure  and  quality  ! 
What  poverty  of  spirit,  to  sit  loose  to  the  world  in 
the  midst  of  the  greatest  affluence  !  What  heavenly- 
mindedness,  to  negociate  the  greatest  temporal  affairs 

"  (Sharp,)  that  she  would  not  have  done  it,  but  for  the  great 
"  character  he  had  given  her  before  of  this  Dr.  Bull.  He  indeed 
"  did  not  rightly  approve  of  this  promotion,  on  account  of  the 
"  doctor's  great  age.  He  thought  his  merit  should  have  been 
"  rewarded  some  other  way ;  and  as  it  was  a  reflexion  on  the 
"  government,  that  a  man  of  such  worth  should  not  be  earlier 
"  preferred,  so  it  might  prove  a  detriment  to  the  church,  that  he 
"  was  preferred  so  late."  p.  337.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  349 

with  the  indifferency  of  a  traveller,  who  seeketh  a  1705. 
better  country !  What  perfection  of  piety,  to  be 
ready  to  sacrifice  fame  and  reputation,  nay,  even 
life  itself,  to  conscience  and  duty ;  and  to  contemn 
the  favour  of  the  greatest  upon  earth,  when  the 
honour  of  God,  the  rights  of  the  church,  and  the 
good  of  souls,  are  laid  in  the  balance !  But  though 
Dr.  Bull  was  very  unwilling,  for  the  reasons  I  have 
already  mentioned,  to  enter  into  the  episcopal  col 
lege  ;  yet  being  importuned  by  his  friends,  who  un 
derstood  the  distressed  state  and  condition  of  his 
family;  and  what  most  prevailed,  being  earnestly 
solicited  by  several  of  the  governors  of  the  church, 
which  he  looked  upon  as  the  call  of  Providence,  he 
was  at  last  prevailed  upon  to  accept  of  that  elevated 
station  which  he  never  sought.  And  therefore  might 
humbly  hope,  that  God,  who  had  called  him  from 
the  care  of  a  parish  to  the  government  of  a  dio 
cese,  would  enable  him  by  his  Holy  Spirit  to  dis 
charge  the  several  duties  which  belonged  to  it ;  and 
that  He  who  laid  the  burden  upon  him,  would 
strengthen  him  under  it ;  and  it  is  certain,  that 
God  proportioneth  his  gifts  to  the  wants  of  those 
who  depend  upon  him ;  and  the  distributions  of 
grace  are  larger,  as  his  wise  providence  maketh 
them  necessary. 

But  however  difficult  the  employment  might  prove 
to  Dr.  Bull,  in  the  decline  of  his  strength  and  vigour, 
it  certainly  concerned  the  honour  of  the  nation,  riot 
to  suffer  a  person  to  die  in  an  obscure  retirement, 
who  upon  the  account  of  his  learned  performances 
had  sinned  with  so  much  lustre  in  a  neighbouring- 
nation,  where  he  had  received  the  united  thanks  of 
her  bishops,  for  the  great  service  he  had  done  to 


350  THE  LIFE  OF 

,7oS.  the  cause  of  Christianity.  Accordingly  he  was  con- 
~~  secrated  bishop  of  St.  David's,  in  Lambeth  chapel, 
the  m29tli  of  April,  1705;  upon  which  occasion 
there  was  a  very  good  sermon  preached  by  the 
present  rector  of  St.  Peter's,  Cornhill,  Dr.  Waugh  ; 
wherein  he  shewed,  with  great  evidence  of  Scrip 
ture,  what  kind  of  rulers  preside  over  the  Christian 
church;  with  what  power  they  are  invested,  and 
wherein  that  obedience  and  submission  consisteth 
which  is  due  to  them  ;  and  all  this  was  urged  from 
those  remarkable  words  of  the  apostle  to  the  He 
brews,  chap.  xiii.  17.  Obey  them  that  have  the 
rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves.  This  worthy 
clergyman  succeeded  bishop  Beveridge  in  the  care 
of  that  parish,  and  among  his  other  excellencies  it 
may  be  mentioned  with  honour,  that  he  treadeth  in 
the  steps  of  that  pious  prelate  in  the  government 
of  it  ;  and  that  congregation  continueth  still  dis 
tinguished,  as  exemplary  for  devotion  in  the  city  of 
London. 

St.  David's      The  bishopric  of  St.  David's,  which  was  now  con- 
oii-  ferred  upon  Dr.  Bull,  was  formerly  a  metropolitan 


tan  see.  gee  jn  ^Q  gritish  church,  and  the  bishop  hereof 
continued  a  long  time  the  supreme  ordinary  of  the 
Welsh.  About  the  year  519,  it  was  removed  hither 
from  Caer-Leon  upon  Usk.  as  a  proper  shelter  from 
the  fury  of  the  Saxons.  The  place  at  that  time  was 
called  by  the  Welsh,  Menew,  but  afterwards,  in 
memory  of  David,  the  archbishop,  who  so  translated 
it,  St.  David's  ;  but  it  is  from  the  first  name  that 
the  bishops  of  this  diocese  are  in  Latin  styled  Mene- 
venses.  Now  as  to  these  bishops  of  St.  David's,  we 
find  that  twenty-seven  of  them  retained  the  title  of 

m  [Browne  Willis  says  the  25th.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  '351 

archbishops:  the  last  whereof  was  Sampson,  who,  in     1705. 
a  time  of  pestilence,  transferred  the  archiepiscopal  ~ 
dignity  to  Dole   in  Bretagne.     Yet  his   successors, 
though  they  lost  the  name,  preserved  the  power  of 
an  archbishop ;   nor  did  the  residue   of  the  Welsh 
bishops   receive   their  consecration   from   any  other 
hand  but  his,  until  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  who,  upon 
subduing  the  country,  forced  the  Welsh  churches,  in 
the  time  of  Bernard,  the  forty-seventh  bishop  of  this 
see,  to  submit  to  the  see  of  Canterbury. 

The  diocese  containeth  the  whole  counties  of  Pem 
broke,  Cardigan,  Caermartheri,  Radnor,  and  Breck 
nock,  with  some  small  part  of  Monmouth,  Hereford, 
Montgomery,  and  Glamorganshires ;  the  parishes 
under  this  jurisdiction  amount  to  about  308,  of 
which  120  are  accounted  impropriations ;  besides 
several  subordinate  chapels,  which  have  been  built 
in  several  parishes  for  the  ease  of  the  people ;  the 
whole  diocese  is  governed,  under  the  bishop,  by  four 
archdeacons,  with  the  title  of  Cardigan,  Caermarthen, 
Brecknock,  and  St.  David's. 

There    was    one    circumstance    which    supported  He  buries 
bishop  Bull,  under  the  sense  of  his  inability  to  dis- George 
charge   the    episcopal    function,   and   which    had    a^j""^™1 
great  influence  upon  him,  in  the  determining  him  to6*?601**1 

assistance. 

accept  it ;  and  that  was,  the  assistance  he  expected 
from  his  eldest  son,  Mr.  George  Bull,  a  clergyman, 
in  the  very  flower  of  his  age,  being  then  about  five 
and  thirty.     He  was  a  person  truly  sober  and  reli-Mr.  BniPs 
gious,  as  well  as  learned  and  understanding  in  his01 
own  profession.     He  had  spent  seventeen  years  at 
Christ  Church  in  Oxford  n,  and  was  esteemed  one  of 

n  [He  was  admitted  a  commoner  March  13,  1686.  and  elected 
student,  July  ir,  1687.] 


352  THE  LIFE  OF 

1705.  the  ornaments  of  that  society,  where  all  polite  and 
solid  learning  hath  been  used  to  flourish  in  per 
fection.  In  this  place,  he  was  not  only  formed  him 
self  to  piety  and  learning,  but  as  a  tutor  he  had 
formed  others  to  the  same  valuable  qualifications; 
and  with  diligence  and  success  had  cultivated  the 
minds  of  several  gentlemen,  and  had  regulated  their 
manners.  The  sense  of  this  obligation  made  so 
strong  an  impression  upon  one  of  his  pupils,  the 
worthy  sir  Bourchier  Wrey,  baronet,  that  he  became 
Mr.  Bull's  patron,  and  preferred  him  to  the  rectory 
of  Tawstock  in  Devonshire,  after  he  had  laboured 
some  years  in  doing  good  by  his  preaching  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Oxford ;  and  not  long  after,  upon 
the  promotion  of  his  father,  by  the  grace  and  favour 
of  the  queen,  he  was  in  his  room  made  archdeacon 
of  Landaff  °.  But,  alas  !  the  reasonable  expectation 
his  lordship  had  from  this  his  excellent  son  quickly 
vanished,  for  in  two  years  time,  being  in  London 
with  his  father,  he  was  attacked  by  the  smallpox, 
which  he  received  as  a  dispensation  from  the  hand 
of  God,  with  a  composed  mind,  entirely  resigned  to 
his  holy  will;  and  having  fortified  himself  with  his 
viaticum,  the  holy  eucharist,  and  having  commended 
himself  into  the  hands  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  with  a 
firm  hope  of  immortal  life,  promised  by  him,  and 
purchased  by  his  merits,  he  did  with  great  quietness 
of  mind  expect  the  approach  of  death  ;  which  put  an 
end  to  his  days  the  llth  of  May,  1707,  in  the  37th 

0  [The  bishop  also  resigned  to  him  his  prebendal  stall  at  Glou 
cester  Dec.  27,  1705,  though  in  April  of  the  same  year  he  had 
obtained  permission  to  hold  this  prebend  in  commendam  during 
his  life,  on  account  of  the  small  income  of  his  see.  See  Rankin's 
Translation  of  the  Judicium,  p.  3 1  i .] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  358 

year  of  his  age,  to  the  great  grief  of  his  tender  pa-    1705. 
rents,  and  dear  friends,  and  of  all  good  and  learned  ~~ 
men  who  were  happy  in  his  acquaintance.     His  na 
tural  judgment  was  strong,   and   his   apprehension 
quick,  and  his  learning  worthy  of  that  society  where 
he  was  educated  ;  but  he  chiefly  excelled  in  piety 
and  holiness  of  life,  which  was  crowned  and  com 
pleted  with  singular  modesty  and  Christian  humility, 
which  in  the  sight  of  God  is  of  great  price. 

A  specimen  of  this  his  great  modesty  and  humility  Atestimony 
I  am  able  to  give  the  reader,  in  the  beginning  of  auty,  inT" 
letter  which  he  writ  to  me,  ten  years  before  h 
death,  the  occasion  whereof  was  this.  Having  been 
obliged  to  apply  to  him  for  his  assistance,  in  a  con 
cern  which  I  had  at  the  university  of  Oxford,  I  took 
notice  of  the  pleasure  and  satisfaction  I  received 
from  his  good  character,  which  had  been  confirmed 
to  me  by  several  of  his  acquaintance ;  to  which  he 
was  pleased  to  make  the  following  reply. 

Oxon.  Ch.  Ch.  July  27,  1697. 

SIR, 

YOU  were  pleased  to  favour  me  with  an  unex 
pected  letter ;  and  therein  to  signify  to  me  the  good 
character  those  of  this  place  you  have  met  with  give 
of  me.  I  find  common  fame,  how  uncharitable  so 
ever  it  is  to  others,  has  been  too  kind  to  me,  in  as 
cribing  to  me,  what  I  must  confess  to  you,  I  do  not 
deserve :  which  convinces  me,  that  a  very  little 
thing  is  sufficient  to  bring  a  man  into  the  good,  as 
well  as  the  ill  opinion  of  others.  But  every  man 
that  can  think  impartially  is  his  own  best  judge  in 
this  case.  And  therefore  I  hope  I  may  say,  that  I 

A  a 


354  THE  LIFE  OF 

1705.  know  myself  so  well,  as  to  see  the  opinion  others 
"have  of  me  to  be  a  thing  that  tells  me,  not  what  I 
am,  but  what  I  ought  to  be.  Indeed  I  acknowledge 
to  you,  (and  I  think  myself  obliged  so  to  do,)  that  I 
am  a  servant  of  the  great  God,  though  but  a  weak 
and  imperfect  one.  As  for  other  things,  I  must  tell 
you,  (and  I  am  not  ashamed  to  own  it,)  that  my  im 
provements  here  in  the  university  have  been  as  mean, 
as  my  education  was  before  I  came  hither :  pardon 
me,  sir,  for  thus  taking  notice  of  the  beginning  of 
your  letter,  for  I  could  not  restrain  myself  from  it ; 
because  you  are  not  the  first  by  many,  that  intimated 
to  me  how  well  others  speak  of  me.  And  I  look 
upon  it  as  a  special  providence  of  God  in  bringing 
these  things  to  my  hearing,  to  mortify  me  for  what 
I  really  am,  and  to  stir  me  up  to  endeavour  to  be 
what  I  am  not.  But  enough  of  this,  sir,  and  I  tell  it 
only  to  you,  knowing  to  whom  I  write.  For  perhaps 
to  some,  such  a  letter  might  render  me  ridiculous. 

Now  for  a  person  to  have  Mr.  Bull's  acquirements 
of  learning  and  piety,  with  so  mean  an  opinion  of 
them  himself,  will  be  thought  by  all  good  Christians 
to  be  no  small  degree  of  the  most  valuable  virtue  of 
humility.  The  loss  of  so  good  a  son  was  a  very  great 
affliction  to  the  good  old  bishop,  and  the  greater, 
from  those  circumstances  of  life  in  which  he  was 
then  engaged ;  but  yet  through  the  assistance  of 
God's  grace,  he  did  not  sink  under  it,  his  heart  was 
fixed,  trusting  in  the  Lord. 
He  takes  The  bishop  took  his  seat  in  the  house  of  lords  in 

his  seat  in  .    .  . 

the  house    a  most  critical  conjuncture,  even  in  that  memorable 
the°timeaof  session,   when   the   bill   for  uniting   both  kingdoms 

the  union. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  355 

passed  into  a  law;  and  when  not  a  few  were  in  the  >7°5- 
greatest  apprehensions  concerning  our  church,  and 
were  for  considering  thence  the  best  methods  of  se 
curing  it  to  posterity,  together  with  the  union. 
Wherefore  upon  a  debate  in  the  house,  in  relation  to 
the  said  bill,  a  certain  noble  lord,  of  a  very  eminent 
character,  moved  in  a  speech,  that  since  the  parlia 
ment  of  Scotland  had  given  a  character  of  their 
church,  by  extolling  the  purity  of  its  worship,  their 
lordships  should  not  be  behindhand  in  giving  a  cha 
racter  of  the  best  constituted  church  in  the  world. 
For,  saith  he,  (turning  himself  towards  the  bench  of 
bishops,)  my  lords,  I  have  been  always  taught  by  my 
lords  the  bishops  from  my  youth,  that  the  Church 
of  England  is  the  best  constituted  church  in  the 
world,  and  most  agreeable  to  the  apostolical  insti 
tution.  Upon  which,  bishop  Bull,  who  sate  very 
near  his  lordship,  apprehending  how  upon  such  an 
appeal  to  the  bishops,  it  was  necessary  for  them  to 
say  something,  stood  up  and  said ;  "  My  lords,  I  do 
"  second  what  that  noble  lord  hath  moved,  and  do 
"  think  it  highly  reasonable,  that  in  this  bill  a  cha- 
"  racter  should  be  given  of  our  most  excellent 
"  church.  For,  my  lords,  whosoever  is  skilled  in 
"  primitive  antiquity,  must  allow  it  for  a  certain  and 
"  evident  truth,  that  the  Church  of  England  is,  in 
"  her  doctrine,  discipline,  and  worship,  most  agree- 
"  able  to  the  primitive  and  apostolical  institution." 
The  bishop  of  St.  David's  coming  out  of  the  house, 
bishop  Beveridge  and  another  bishop  thanked  his 
lordship  for  his  excellent  speech;  and  said  bishop 
Beveridge,  My  lord,  if  you  and  I  had  the  penning 
of  the  bill,  it  should  be  in  the  manner  your  lord 
ship  hath  moved.  LTpon  which  bishop  Bull  made 

A  a  2 


356  THE  LIFE  OF 

1705.  such  a  reply,  as  represented  the  necessity  he  lay 
~~  under  of  thus  discharging  his  duty,  when  so  solemnly 
called  upon  in  the  greatest  court  of  the  nation  :  and 
it  is  certainly  at  all  times  the  indispensable  obligation 
of  all  the  bishops  and  pastors  of  the  church,  to 
behave  themselves  with  an  holy  boldness  and  un 
daunted  resolution,  in  the  affairs  of  God  and  reli 
gion,  without  being  awed  or  biassed  by  the  torrent 
of  the  times,  or  made  sordidly  to  crouch  to  a  pre 
vailing  power  of  worldly  politicians,  who  are  for 
carrying  on  their  own  sinister  designs  at  any  rate, 
though  always  under  the  most  specious  pretexts. 


LXXIII.  About  July  after  his  lordship  was  con- 
ter  hisycon-  secratecl,  he  went  into  his  diocese  ;  being  resolved  to 
TeTi'n'to'  empl°y  the  remainder  of  his  strength  and  vigour  in 
his  diocese,  that  service  of  his  Master,  the  great  Bishop  of  souls, 
to  which  he  was  now  called.  He  was  received  by 
the  gentry  and  clergy  with  all  imaginable  demon 
strations  of  respect,  which  increased  in  proportion  as 
they  grew  more  intimately  acquainted  with  his  solid 
worth.  The  episcopal  palace  at  Aberguilly  being 
much  out  of  repair,  he  made  choice  of  Brecknock 
for  the  place  of  his  residence,  being  the  chief  town 
in  the  county  of  that  name,  placed  almost  in  the 
centre  thereof.  Here  king  Henry  the  Eighth  con 
stituted  a  collegiate  church,  consisting  of  two  and 
twenty  prebendaries,  which  he  translated  to  this 
place,  from  Aberguilly  in  Caermarthenshire  :  this 
town  abounded  with  great  numbers  of  poor  people, 
who  looked  upon  the  good  bishop  as  a  guardian 
angel,  sent  to  comfort  and  relieve  them  under  their 
pressing  wants  and  necessities.  And  herein  they 
were  not  mistaken,  as  will  appear  by  what  shall  be 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  357 

related  in  reference  to  that  subject,  when  the  bishop     1705. 


removed  from  thence  to  another  seat  in  his  diocese. 
When  he  was  settled  at  this  place,  his  first  care  was 
to  apply  himself  to  understand  the  state  and  con 
dition  of  that  district,  which  was  committed  to  his 
care.  Now  in  order  to  this  purpose,  he  designed 
that  summer  to  visit  his  diocese  himself  in  person ; 
and  did  begin  at  Brecknock,  where  he  delivered  his 
charge  to  the  clergy,  consisting  in  an  earnest  and 
pathetical  exhortation,  wherein  he  stirred  them  up, 
by  way  of  remembrance,  to  a  steady  and  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  duties  of  their  sacred  function. 
But  it  pleased  God  to  prevent  the  farther  execution 
of  his  good  purposes,  by  sending  him  a  severe  illness, 
which  put  an  end  to  his  progress  at  that  time.  But 
still,  that  he  might  not  want  that  information,  which 
was  necessary  to  enable  him  to  rectify  any  thing 
which  was  amiss  under  his  government,  he  com 
mitted  this  trust  to  several  commissioners,  of  which 
the  chief  was  Mr.  William  Powel,  rector  of  Langat- 
tock,  and  prebendary  of  Brecknock,  with  others  the 
most  considerable  clergymen  in  the  several  deaneries. 
By  which  means  he  was  better  able  to  judge  where 
his  authority  and  power  was  most  wanting  to  reform 
any  prevailing  abuses ;  and  what  measures  might  be 
taken  to  remedy  them. 

And  because  it  may  be  proper  to  finish  this  head     1708. 
of  his  visitations  under  this  article,  I  must  acquaint  app^'tVa1* 
the  reader,  that  three  years  after  this  his  lordship  Ration  i> 
appointed  a  triennial  visitation ;  but  not  being  able,  co 

.    . 

through  weakness  and  continued  indispositions,  to 
bear  the  fatigue  of  travelling,  he  constituted  his  wor 
thy  son-in-law,  Mr.  Stevens,  the  present  archdeacon 
of  Brecknock,  and  residentiary  canon  of  St.  David's, 


358  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  with  Mr.  William  Powel  before-mentioned,  to  be 
his  commissioners,  to  visit  in  his  stead.  Mr.  Stevens 
delivered  the  charge,  which  the  bishop  had  prepared, 
under  the  hopes  of  appearing  himself  in  all  the  parts 
of  his  diocese. 

The  sum  of  The  sum  whereof  was,  to  set  before  his  clergy 
pre^dPby  the  principal  parts  and  branches  of  their  pastoral 
the  bishop.  Ofgce>  wjth  rules  and  directions  for  the  most  suc 
cessful  manner  of  performing  them.  The  main  duties 
of  their  function  he  maketh  to  consist  in  reading  the 
prayers  of  the  church,  in  preaching,  in  catechising, 
in  administering  the  holy  sacraments,  and  in  visiting 
the  sick.  And  as  to  the  manner  of  performing  the 
principal  parts  of  their  office,  the  directions  he  giv- 
eth  are  these.  To  read  divine  service  audibly,  that 
all  who  are  present  may  join  in  it;  distinctly  and 
leisurely,  that  they  may  not  outrun  the  attention 
and  devotion  of  the  people ;  and  with  great  reve 
rence  and  devotion,  so  as  to  kindle  pious  affections 
in  the  congregation.  For  thus,  he  saith,  the  prayers 
of  the  church  are  to  be. read,  both  in  order  to  keep 
up  the  reputation  of  them,  and  to  render  them  use 
ful  to  the  people.  To  qualify  them  for  preaching, 
he  pressed  the  knowledge  and  understanding  of  the 
holy  Scriptures ;  and  in  order  thereunto,  some  skill 
in  the  learned  languages,  with  good  judgment  and 
discretion,  and  not  without  a  tolerable  share  of  elo 
cution.  He  advised  young  divines  not  to  trust  at 
first  to  their  own  compositions,  but  to  furnish  them 
selves  with  a  provision  of  the  best  sermons,  which 
the  learned  divines  of  our  church  have  published ; 
that  by  reading  them  often,  and  by  endeavouring  to 
imitate  them,  they  may  acquire  a  habit  of  good 
preaching  themselves.  And  Avhere,  through  poverty, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  359 

or  any  other  impediment,  ministers  are  incapable  of  1708. 
discharging  this  duty  as  they  ought,  he  directed 
them  to  use  the  Homilies  of  the  church,  and  some 
times  to  read  a  chapter  to  the  people,  out  of  that 
excellent  book,  called  The  whole  Duty  of  Man. 
As  to  catechising,  he  just  hints  at  the  necessity  arid 
usefulness  of  it ;  and  required  the  churchwardens 
to  present  the  neglect  of  it,  that  he  might  by  his 
authority  rectify  it.  As  to  the  administration  of  the 
holy  sacraments,  he  enjoined  them  to  perform  bap 
tism  in  public,  and  chiefly  on  Sundays  and  holy- 
days,  when  the  assemblies  of  Christians  are  fullest; 
and  in  order  to  reform  the  abuses  of  that  kind,  he 
resolved  to  exert  his  episcopal  power.  He  exhorted 
to  great  reverence  and  solemnity  in  officiating  at  the 
altar,  and  to  the  observation  of  every  punctilio,  ac 
cording  to  the  rubrics  compiled  for  that  purpose; 
and  especially  to  take  care  not  to  administer  the 
holy  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  to  persons 
known  to  be  vicious  and  scandalous.  As  to  visiting 
the  sick,  the  parochial  priest  is  directed  to  go  with 
out  being  sent  for,  when  he  hears  any  of  his  pa 
rishioners  are  under  the  afflicting  hand  of  God,  and 
to  perform  the  duty,  according  to  the  rules  pre 
scribed  by  the  church ;  from  whence  also  he  took 
occasion  to  press  the  parochial  clergy  to  acquaint 
themselves  with  their  flock,  when  they  are  in  health, 
in  order  to  promote  the  great  end  of  their  own  func 
tion,  the  salvation  of  souls.  He  concluded  what  he 
had  to  say  to  the  clergy,  in  a  serious  exhortation  to 
them  to  become  examples  to  their  people  of  eminent 
piety  and  holiness,  which  they  are  obliged  to,  not 
only  as  Christians,  but  as  priests  of  the  living  God ; 
and  farther,  to  be  diligent  in  the  business  of  their 


360  THE  LIFE  OF 

1 708.  holy  function ;  the  importance  whereof  was  too  great 
~to  admit  the  least  indulgence  to  sloth  and  idleness. 
And  lastly,  he  persuaded  them  to  the  frequent  use 
of  private  prayer,  which  is  necessary  for  their  own 
direction,  as  well  as  to  set  forward  the  salvation  of 
those  souls  which  are  committed  to  their  inspection. 
He  ends  his  charge  with  a  word  to  the  laity,  that 
they  would  be  persuaded  to  respect  their  pastors  for 
the  Lord's  sake,  and  to  throw  a  veil  over  those  per 
sonal  defects,  which  were  in  common  to  them  with 
the  rest  of  mankind  ;  and  moreover,  that  they  would 
be  strictly  just  in  paying  them  their  dues ;  that  the 
little  they  have  they  may  have  in  quiet.  He  con 
cluded  the  whole,  in  putting  churchwardens  in 
mind  of  not  perjuring  themselves  for  fear  or  favour ; 
but  to  be  honest,  and  present  matters  according  to 
the  best  of  their  skill  and  knowledge.  But  a  fuller 
account  of  this  charge  the  reader  will  find  among 
his  discourses,  which  are  now  published,  where  it  is 
printed  at  large. 

The  bishop      LXXI V.  It  was  matter  of  great  grief  to  the  good 

confirms  in   •«•   -i  J.I.LI        ,1         -i  /•  i  . 

Severai  bishop,  that  by  the  decay  of  his  strength,  and  by  his 
frequent  indispositions,  he  was  prevented  from  tra 
velling  over  his  diocese,  in  order  to  administer  in  all 
the  parts  of  it  that  holy  apostolical  rite  grounded 
upon  Scripture,  as  expounded  by  catholic  tradition, 
which  for  some  time  hath  been  known  and  distin 
guished  in  the  church  by  the  name  of  confirma 
tion;  and  which  in  the  primitive  times  was  more 
frequently  called,  obsignation  and  unction,  from  the 
sacred  chrism,  wherewith  the  persons  confirmed  were 
wont  to  be  anointed  by  the  bishop,  and  which,  with 
the  imposition  of  hands,  was  the  symbol  of  con- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  361 

ferring  the  baptismal  spirit.  The  great  usefulness  1708. 
of  this  holy  institution,  is  manifest  from  the  many 
benefits  which  attend  it ;  for  hereby  persons  already 
baptized  receive  an  increase  of  divine  grace,  and 
larger  measures  of  spiritual  strength  are  conferred 
to  enable  them  to  discharge  their  baptismal  engage 
ments,  and  to  carry  them  to  higher  degrees  of  im 
provement  in  all  Christian  virtues.  But  though  he 
was  thus  hindered  from  administering  this  holy  rite 
of  confirmation  throughout  his  large  diocese,  yet 
where  he  resided,  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  such 
places,  he  was  not  wanting  in  affording  opportunities 
of  receiving  it,  to  all  such  as  were  disposed  to  em 
brace  them ;  and  therefore  he  confirmed  at  Breck 
nock,  Caermarthen,  Landeilo,  Abermarless,  as  often 
as  there  was  occasion. 

The  September  after  the   bishop  came   into   his  The  care  he 

.  T  .          .  i  took  in  or- 

diocese,  he  had  a  public  ordination;  and  the  samedaining 

,.  t       i  •  i  i      A.        j_i  deacons  and 

time  every  year  was  by  him  employed  after  the  same  pl.iests. 
manner.  After  the  other  ember  seasons  he  ordained 
but  a  small  number,  more  or  less,  as  occasion  re 
quired.  The  warning  St.  Paul  gave  to  Timothy,  to 
lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,  is  not  only  of  the 
highest  importance  to  the  governors  of  the  church, 
who  are  entrusted  with  the  power  of  constituting 
officers  for  the  service  of  it ;  but  is  also  of  the  great 
est  consequence  to  the  whole  body  in  general,  who 
are  the  subjects  upon  whom  that  power  and  au 
thority  is  exercised.  It  is  certain,  that  bishops  must 
answer  at  the  day  of  judgment  for  any  neglect  they 
shall  be  guilty  of,  in  admitting  persons  not  duly 
qualified  for  the  sacred  function ;  which  made  St. 
Chrysostom  think,  that  of  all  men,  bishops  would 
have  the  greatest  account  to  give  at  the  dreadful 


362  THE  LIFE  OF 

7°8.    tribunal,  and  would   find   the   greatest  difficulty  in 


working  out  their  salvation.  But  it  is  not  less  cer 
tain,  that  the  church,  the  body  of  Christ,  receiveth 
the  most  mortal  wounds  from  her  own  sons,  and 
that  she  hath  suffered  more  from  the  ambition  and 
pride,  the  luxury  and  covetousness,  and  temporizing 
of  bad  priests,  than  even  from  the  persecution  of 
tyrants  themselves.  So  that  it  is  no  wonder  if  a 
bishop,  rightly  disposed  to  discharge  that  important 
trust  committed  to  his  management,  is  under  no 
little  concern,  when  he  admitteth  candidates  to 
holy  orders. 

The  man-  The  first  thing  therefore  that  bishop  Bull  required 
shop  Bull's  of  such  candidates  was,  that  they  should  make  their 
Persona^  appearance  before  him  at  least  a  month  be- 
^ore  Ordination  Sunday.  At  such  their  appearance, 
they  produced  their  testimonials  and  titles,  and  were 
examined  by  one  of  his  chaplains,  and  also  by  him 
self,  as  often  as  the  state  of  his  health  would  permit. 
The  design  of  this  examination  was  to  judge  of  their 
sufficiency,  as  to  their  knowledge  and  capacity,  for 
the  weighty  business  in  which  they  solicited  to  en 
gage.  This  method  he  so  strictly  insisted  upon,  that 
he  refused  several,  for  appearing  later  than  the  time 
prescribed,  without  admitting  them  to  examination. 
Now  what  the  bishop  chiefly  proposed,  by  requiring 
this  early  appearance,  was,  that  he  might  have  suf 
ficient  time  to  inquire  into  the  characters  of  the  can 
didates,  and  into  the  characters  of  those  who  had 
subscribed  their  testimonials ;  as  likewise  into  the 
circumstances  of  such  persons,  from  whom  they  had 
their  titles.  Upon  the  last  subject,  the  matter  of  his 
inquiries  was,  whether  they  who  gave  the  title  had 
really  an  occasion  for  a  curate;  and  whether  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  363 

benefice  or  benefices  they  enjoyed  could  maintain  an  1708. 
incumbent  and  a  curate,  allowing  the  latter  a  com- 
petent  salary.  And  finding  that  the  allowances 
which  some  incumbents  gave,  under  the  general 
terms  of  a  competent  salary,  which  are  the  words 
commonly  made  use  of  in  forms  of  titles,  were  not 
always  a  sufficient  maintenance,  nor  bore  any  pro 
portion  to  what  the  benefice  could  afford,  he  made 
it  a  rule,  not  to  admit  of  any  title  which  ran  only 
in  such  general  terms,  but  required  that  the  very 
sum  they  designed  to  allow  should  be  expressly 
mentioned  in  the  body  of  the  title. 

Besides  the  trial  he  made  of  their  attainments  as 
scholars,  he  would  ask  many  questions,  in  order  to 
discover  whether  they  could  give  a  good  account  of 
their  faith,  and  to  find  out  the  inward  temper  and 
complexion  of  their  souls ;  whether  they  had  a  true 
sense  of  religion  upon  their  minds,  and  whether  they 
were  inwardly  moved  to  undertake  that  most  diffi 
cult,  as  well  as  desirable  employment.  At  the  same 
time,  he  laid  before  them  the  nature,  dignity,  and 
importance  of  that  holy  function  to  which  they  were 
to  be  admitted  ;  and  gave  them  directions  how  to 
prepare  themselves  for  the  receiving  their  spiritual 
powers,  especially  in  the  time  that  intervened  be 
tween  their  appearance  and  their  solemn  admission. 
He  usually  exhorted  them  to  spend  a  large  part  of 
that  season  in  fasting  and  prayer,  because  the  high 
est  pitch  of  human  learning  is  very  ineffectual  to 
cure  the  diseases  of  the  mind,  without  the  assistance 
of  God's  grace ;  and  there  is  no  depending  upon  the 
greatest  abilities  for  this  work,  except  they  are  sup 
ported  by  help  from  above.  He  particularly  recom 
mended  to  the  candidates  a  frequent  and  serious 


364  THE  LIFE  OF 

1 708.  perusal  of  the  whole  office  of  Ordination,  but  especially 
~  the  questions  and  answers ;  upon  each  of  which  he 
desired  them  to  dwell  for  some  time,  in  order  to  give 
themselves  leisure  to  examine  their  own  dispositions, 
and  to  form  sincere  and  vigorous  resolutions  faith 
fully  to  discharge  those  several  duties  of  their  func 
tion  which  they  were  obliged  to  undertake,  and  that 
in  so  solemn  a  mariner,  upon  their  admission  to  it. 
He  took  this  occasion  also  to  explain  to  them  that 
were  entering  into  the  order  of  deacons,  the  mean 
ing  of  that  question  in  the  office  of  ordaining  them, 
Do  you  trust  that  you  are  inwardly  called  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  you  this  office  and  mini 
stration?  His  discourse  to  them  upon  this  subject 
led  him  to  inform  them,  how  far,  and  in  what  de 
gree,  the  prospect  of  getting  a  livelihood  or  main 
tenance  by  that  profession  may  be  allowed  to  be  a 
justifiable  motive  of  undertaking  it. 

Hisexhor.  After  they  were  ordained,  and  had  received  their 
thereafter  instruments,  the  bishop  dismissed  them  with  an 
ordination.  earnest  and  affectionate  exhortation,  to  be  diligent 
in  their  studies,  sober  and  exemplary  in  their  lives 
and  conversations,  and  careful  and  conscientious  in 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  sacred  function, 
in  those  places  where  by  their  titles  they  were  to  be 
employed ;  charging  them  to  make  it  their  chief 
business  and  endeavour  to  answer  the  end  of  their 
profession,  by  being  useful  in  it,  and  to  employ  their 
care  and  time  rather  to  deserve  than  seek  prefer 
ment.  He  endeavoured  to  persuade  them,  that, 
generally  speaking,  the  most  certain,  as  well  as  the 
most  primitive  method  of  advancing  themselves,  was 
to  be  diligent  and  studious  in  their  present  station, 
and  quietly  to  continue  in  it  for  some  time,  till  their 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  365 

own  merits  should  raise  them  to  a  better  post  in 
the  church  ;  and  not  to  be  over  forward  in  making 
application  themselves,  or  to  solicit  the  interest 
and  application  of  friends  in  their  behalf,  which  are 
sometimes  so  many  and  so  pressing,  that  they  put 
a  conscientious  and  good-natured  patron  under  a 
great  deal  of  difficulty  and  uneasiness  ;  and  upon 
occasions  of  that  nature,  bishop  Bull  would  lament 
that  he  had  any  preferments  in  his  gift.  He  was 
much  troubled  when  he  was  under  a  necessity  of 
ordaining  persons  who  were  but  meanly  qualified, 
which  could  not  be  avoided  sometimes  in  that 
country,  where  the  clergy  are  so  meanly  provided 
for ;  when  he  had  admitted  persons  into  orders  of 
a  more  liberal  education,  and  of  some  sufficiency  as 
to  their  fortunes,  he  advised  and  recommended  the 
reading  the  Fathers  of  the  church,  next  to  the  holy 
Scriptures,  at  least  those  of  the  three  first  centuries. 
This  degree  of  skill  and  acquaintance  with  primitive 
antiquity  he  looked  upon,  not  only  as  useful,  but 
absolutely  necessary,  to  support  the  character  of  a 
priest,  whose  lips  are  to  preserve  knowledge.  These 
books,  he  said,  he  recommended  to  their  diligent  and 
serious  perusal,  not  only  to  inform  their  judgment, 
but  to  influence  their  practice ;  since  they  had  a 
great  tendency  to  refine  their  morals,  and  raise  their 
affections  to  heavenly  things ;  being  writ  with  such 
a  lively  spirit  of  piety  and  devotion,  as  is  not  to  be 
met  with  in  the  writings  of  later  centuries. 

And  farther,  to  shew  the  deference  the  bishop 
paid  to  the  consentient  testimony  of  the  primitive 
writers,  and  with  what  sort  of  spirit  they  ought  to 
be  read  by  the  candidates  of  divinity,  I  shall  here, 
for  their  sakes,  transcribe  a  very  remarkable  passage 


366  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  from  his  discourse  concerning  the  State  of  Man  before 
~  the  Fa!l,8cc.,  wherein,  after  our  author  had  justified 
the  concurrent  interpretation  of  a  text  of  Scripture 
by  the  catholic  doctors,  he  speaks  after  this  manner ; 
P"  You  will  now,  I  presume,  easily  pardon  this  large 
"  digression,  being  in  itself  not  unuseful,  and  being 
"  also  necessary  to  remove  a  stone  of  offence  often 
"  cast  in  the  way  of  the  reader,  that  converseth 
"  with  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Fathers.  Nay, 
"  moreover,  I  shall  persuade  myself,  that  from  this 
"  one  instance  among  many,  you  will  learn  from 
"  henceforth  the  modesty  of  submitting  your  judg- 
"  ment  to  that  of  the  catholic  doctors,  where  they 
"  are  found  generally  to  concur  in  the  interpretation 
"  of  a  text  of  Scripture,  how  absurd  soever  that 
"  interpretation  may  at  first  seem  to  be.  For  upon 
"  a  diligent  search  you  will  find,  that  aliquid  latet 
"  quod  noil  patet,  there  is  a  mystery  in  the  bottom, 
"  and  that  what  at  first  view  seemed  very  ridiculous 
"  will  afterwards  appear  to  be  an  important  truth. 
"  Let  them  therefore,  who  reading  the  Fathers  are 
"  prone  to  laugh  at  that  in  them  which  they  do  not 
"  presently  understand,  seriously  consider,  quanta  suo 
"  periculo  id  faciant" 


Heendea-  LXXV.  Among  other  irregularities  which  the 
thV6"  bishop  found  had  prevailed  in  his  diocese,  was  the 
j  general  custom  of  administering  public  baptism  in 
in  private,  private  houses.  This  he  declared  against,  as  an 
absurd  and  uncanonical  practice ;  absurd,  as  being 
inconsistent  with  the  design  and  words  of  the  office, 
drawn  up  for  that  purpose ;  which  all  along  supposeth 

1J  Vol.  iii.  Discourse  ^th. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  367 

it  to  be  used  in  the  church,  in  the  presence  of  the    i7°8- 


congregation  ;  and  tmcanonical,  as  being  directly 
contrary  to  the  express  words  of  the  81st  Canon. 
His  lordship  took  a  great  deal  of  pains,  both  in  his 
charge  to  the  clergy,  and  in  his  discourses  with  them 
and  the  laity,  to  convince  them  of  the  unreasonable 
ness  and  irregularity  of  that  custom  ;  and  though  his 
endeavours  in  this  matter  did  not  meet  with  that 
entire  success  which  he  expected  and  desired,  yet  in 
a  great  many  parishes,  I  am  credibly  informed,  this 
irregular  practice  was  wholly  laid  aside  ;  and  in  all 
other  places  in  that  diocese,  I  hear,  it  is  very  much 
disused,  though  not  quite  abolished.  Indeed  his 
conversation  with  his  clergy  was  upon  all  occasions 
grave  and  serious,  and  related  chiefly  to  the  condi 
tion  of  their  parishes,  and  the  disposition  of  their 
people,  and  the  discharge  of  their  own  duties,  espe 
cially  in  catechising,  and  visiting  the  sick.  Some 
times  he  would  represent  the  difficulty  and  import 
ance,  as  well  as  the  dignity  of  their  office ;  at  another 
time,  the  great  obligations  they  lay  under  of  being 
devout  and  studious  as  much  as  might  be,  and  of 
using  their  utmost  endeavours  to  destroy  vice  and 
error,  and  to  build  up  their  people  in  faith  and  holi 
ness  ;  and  never  failed  frequently  to  put  them  in  mind 
of  the  horrible  punishment  which  would  ensue,  if  any 
soul  should  miscarry  through  their  negligence. 

Though  the  bishop  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  con- He  De 
stitution  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  being  in  the  p" 
main  founded  upon  the  best  and  purest  antiquity ;  ^j 
yet  he  often  lamented  her  distressed  state,  from  the  iiriations- 
decay  of  ancient  discipline,  and  from  those  divisions 
which  prevailed  in  the  kingdom ;  and  more  particu 
larly  from  the  great  number  of  lay-impropriations. 


368  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  The  last  of  these  he  looked  upon  as  the  occasion  of 
"the  two  former,  upon  which  he  said,  several  good 
men  called  the  alienation  of  tithes  the  scandal  of 
the  reformation ;  and  that  they  esteemed  it  the  great 
blemish  of  the  happy  restoration,  that  there  was  not 
sufficient  care  taken  at  that  time  of  the  interest  of 
the  Church  of  England,  in  respect  to  the  revenues  of 
it.  All  the  impropriations  might  easily  have  been 
purchased  in  those  days,  when  the  national  funds 
were  all  clear,  and  such  vast  arrears  in  all  bishoprics, 
as,  if  laid  out  to  that  use,  would  very  much  have 
lessened  the  number  of  them.  When  the  bishop 
talked  upon  this  subject,  he  would  often  mention 
with  pleasure  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  queen, 
in  her  augmentation  of  the  maintenance  of  the  poor 
clergy;  and  he  hoped  that  several  of  her  subjects, 
led  by  the  example  of  her  royal  bounty,  would  of 
their  own  plenty  bring  their  gifts  into  this  treasury, 
and  so  render  it  effectual  to  those  purposes  her 
majesty  intended  it.  This  design  he  thought  would 
be  more  easily  carried  on,  if  some  rich  impropriators 
could  be  prevailed  upon  to  restore  to  the  church 
some  part  of  her  revenues,  which  they  had  too  long 
retained,  to  the  great  prejudice  of  the  church,  and 
very  often  to  the  ruin  of  their  families,  by  that  secret 
curse,  which  is  the  usual  attendant  of  sacrilegious 
possessions.  He  was  able  to  give  instances  of  this 
kind  in  some  families  of  his  acquaintance ;  and  in 
this  point  my  lord  seemed  to  concur  with  the  opinion 
of  sir  Henry  Spelman. 

Though  he  was  always  in  his  judgment  against 
lay-impropriations,  yet  he  was  never  so  sensible  of 
the  great  inconveniences  which  attend  them,  till  he 
came  into  the  diocese  of  St.  David's,  where  they  are 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  369 

very  numerous,  and  the  salaries  allowed  the  curates  i7°8- 
by  the  impropriators  too  mean  and  inconsiderable  to 
make  a  tolerable  maintenance.  The  bishop  applied 
himself  to  several  of  these  impropriators,  in  hopes  to 
have  prevailed  with  them  to  advance  their  salaries 
to  a  competent  subsistence,  having  still  a  due  regard 
to  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  each  parish,  and  to 
the  value  of  the  profits  they  received  from  it.  But 
the  little  success  he  met  with  in  these  applications 
put  him  upon  inquiring  how  far  it  might  lie  in  his 
own  power  to  remedy  this  grievance,  and  redress 
the  just  complaints  of  the  poor  curates.  And  it  was 
his  opinion,  that  there  was  sufficient  authority  vested 
in  the  bishop  to  ascertain  the  salaries  of  all  curates 
within  his  own  diocese,  whether  they  were  employed 
under  a  clergyman  or  a  lay-impropriator.  As  for 
the  bishop's  power  in  the  former  case,  it  was  never 
questioned,  and  he  saw  no  reason  why  it  should  not 
be  allowed  in  the  latter ;  and  had  my  lord  lived  to 
have  seen  London  once  more,  he  designed  to  have 
discoursed  his  brethren  the  bishops  on  this  momen 
tous  affair,  and  to  have  received  farther  advice  and 
direction  concerning  it.  For  if  the  bishops  have 
such  a  power,  they  ought  by  all  means  to  insist 
upon  it,  when  it  is  so  plain  and  evident,  that  a  due 
exercise  of  that  part  of  the  episcopal  authority  would 
be  of  such  great  advantage  at  this  time  towards  pro 
moting  the  Christian  religion,  as  professed  in  the 
Church  of  England  ;  for  the  slender  salaries  of  these 
impropriators  make  it  impossible  to  have  those  places 
served  by  able  ministers;  and  where  such  are  want 
ing,  the  dissenting  teachers  of  all  denominations, 
who  are  wise  and  industrious  enough  to  improve  all 
advantages  against  the  church,  will  be  sure  to  lay 

B  b 


370  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  hold  of  such  opportunities  to  set  up  their  meeting- 
~  houses  in  such  parishes,  where  they  have  so  fair  a 
prospect  of  making  proselytes  to  their  several  parties. 
Nor  must  the  lay-impropriators  bear  the  blame  of 
all  the  inconveniences  the  church  suffereth  upon  this 
account ;  for  though  several  colleges  and  chapters 
have,  since  the  restoration,  much  augmented  the 
cures  which  belong  to  them,  yet  it  must  be  owned 
they  are  not  all  come  in,  to  enlarge  their  allowances 
to  the  poor  curates.  When  this  good  bishop  was 
prebendary  of  Gloucester,  that  chapter  made  a  strict 
inquiry  into  the  value  of  the  several  vicarages  which 
belonged  to  them,  and  made  very  handsome  aug 
mentations  in  those  places  where  they  were  want 
ing;  and  I  am  informed,  that  the  deans  and  chap 
ters  of  Worcester,  of  Christ  Church  in  Oxford,  and 
of  Carlisle,  have  long  since  considered  the  same  mat 
ter  to  the  same  good  purposes  ;  and  it  is  to  be  wished, 
that  other  colleges  and  chapters  would  follow  such 
good  examples,  and  thereby  effectually  put  a  stop 
to  those  reproaches  which  have  been  thrown  upon 
them,  though  if  the  allowances  they  make  to  the 
cures  which  belong  to  them  were  as  mean  and  scanty 
as  those  of  the  lay-impropriators,  yet  I  humbly  con 
ceive  they  would  not  be  liable  to  the  same  reproach, 
since  the  application  of  the  impropriated  tithes  and 
lands  to  the  maintenance  of  scholars  and  dignita 
ries  in  cathedrals,  is  not  so  gross  a  perversion  of 
the  ends  for  which  they  were  at  first  given,  and  so 
sacrilegious  an  abuse  of  them,  as  the  alienation  of 
them  to  laymen,  who  do  no  service  to  the  church ; 
whereas  the  others  are  supposed  to  do  some,  though 
not  exactly  that  for  which  those  donations  were 
given. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  371 

He  pursued  the  same  method  in  the  government  1708. 
of  his  family,  while  he  was  bishop,  which  he  prac-Theman- 
tised  during  his  confinement  to  a  private  station ;  vernLflm 
his  desire  and  endeavour  was,  to  have  it  regulated  [vhuVhe 
according  to  that  excellent  form  recommended  to  us  was  bish°P- 
in  Scripture,  by  the  examples  of  Joshua  and  David ; 
and  in  order  to  introduce  this,  he  took  care,  in  the 
first  place,  to  have  them  instructed  in  the  principles 
of  religion,  and  then  gave  them  frequent  and  earnest 
exhortations  to  a  holy  life,  and  grave  and  friendly 
reproofs  when  necessary  ;  to  which  he  added  a  bright 
example  of  piety  and  devotion,  that  as  by  his  in 
structions  he  taught  them  how  to  know  their  duty, 
so  by  the  pattern  he  set  before  them,  they  might 
learn  how  to  practise  it.  He  had  prayers  in  his 
family  twice  every  day,  morning  and  evening ;  and 
while  he  resided  at  Brecknock,  he,  and  as  many  as 
could  be  spared,  went  constantly  to  public  prayers 
at  church.  He  continued  the  custom  which  he  had 
always  used,  of  having  some  religious  exercises  per 
formed  in  his  family  upon  a  Sunday  evening ;  and 
some  part  of  that  excellent  book,  called  The  whole 
Duty  of  Man,  or  of  some  other  practical  treatise  in 
divinity,  was  read  to  them ;  which  he  designed  chiefly 
for  the  benefit  of  the  servants,  who  could  not  attend 
the  public  worship  ;  but  the  bishop  himself  and  all 
his  family,  as  well  as  his  servants,  were  present  at 
it.  And  certainly  a  day  set  apart,  on  purpose  for 
the  worship  and  honour  of  God,  and  the  spiritual 
improvement  of  our  souls,  and  for  our  preparation 
for  eternity,  ought  chiefly  to  be  employed  to  such 
religious  ends  ;  and  masters  of  families  cannot  better 
discharge  the  great  trust  which  is  reposed  in  them 
upon  such  occasions,  than  by  instructing  their 
B  b  2 


372  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  children,  servants,  and  other  dependents,  in  the 
"necessary  knowledge  of  religion,  and  by  raising  their 
minds  to  a  steady  pursuit  of  those  things  which  be 
long  to  their  peace,  before  they  are  hid  from  their 
eyes.  He  was  strict  and  careful  in  his  inquiries 
concerning  the  character  and  behaviour  of  his  ser 
vants,  especially  as  it  related  to  their  absence  from 
prayers,  or  to  their  neglect  in  not  receiving  the 
holy  communion;  even  one  of  the  last  times  he 
received  the  blessed  sacrament,  which  was  the  Lord's 
day  before  he  was  confined  by  his  last  sickness,  find 
ing  two  of  his  servants  to  be  absent,  he  sent  for  them, 
and  severely  reproved  them  for  their  neglect ;  and 
then  declared,  that  he  was  fully  determined,  never 
to  keep  a  servant  in  his  house,  that  persisted  in  the 
omission  of  so  great  a  duty,  and  therefore,  if  they 
had  a  mind  to  continue  in  his  service,  they  must 
resolve  to  be  constant  communicants. 

His  several      LXXVI.  As  the  good  bishop's  income  increased, 

methods  of  -i .  -i     i  .  *•  i  •       i        •  »   •»    '  • 

charity,  so  did  the  exercise  or  his  charity;  and  during  the  time 
of  his  sitting  in  that  see,  his  hospitality  and  his  alms 
were  much  too  large  for  his  revenues  ;  but  he  never 
had  so  mean  a  design,  as  to  Braise  an  estate  from 
the  income  of  any  church  preferment,  and  though 
he  brought  a  good  patrimony  into  the  service  of  the 
church,  yet  when  God  called  him  to  his  rest  he  left 
none  behind  him.  He  contented  himself  to  make  a 
very  slender  provision  for  his  family,  which,  with 
God's  blessing,  he  esteemed  the  best  inheritance. 


9  Gloria  episcopi  est  pauperum  opibus  providere.  Ignominia 
omnium  sacerdotum  propriis  studere  divitiis.  S.  Hieron.  ad 
Ncpotianum. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL. 

His  doors  were  always  thronged  with  the  poor  and  1708. 
needy,  who  found  comfort  and  support  from  his  ~ 
bounty;  and  all  the  time  he  lived  at  Brecknock, 
which  is  a  very  poor  town,  about  sixty  necessitous 
people,  truly  indigent,  were  fed  with  meat,  or  served 
with  money,  every  Lord's  day  at  dinner-time  ;  and 
he  allowed  very  largely  to  widows  and  orphans  in 
the  same  place,  and  sent  liberally  to  relieve  the  dis 
tress  of  necessitous  prisoners  ;  and  sad  were  the  cries 
and  lamentations  of  those  destitute  wretches,  when 
the  bishop  was  forced  to  leave  that  place  for  a  freer 
air  at  Abermarless,  which  was  a  little  more  than 
half  a  year  before  he  died. 

As  he  had  made  large  expenses  in  repairing  the 
parsonage  houses  of  Suddington  and  A  veiling,  where 
he  had  been  rector  for  several  years,  which  amount 
ed  at  least  to  five  hundred  pounds  ;  so  now  he  pro 
cured  the  college  chapel  at  Brecknock,  part  whereof 
was  fallen  down,  to  be  put  into  that  good  repair  in 
which  it  appears  at  present ;  but  towards  the  effect 
ing  of  this,  he  prevailed  with  the  far  greatest  part  of 
the  prebendaries  to  allow  one  half  year's  reserved 
rent. 

He  was  very  charitable  to  poor  clergymen's  widows 
or  children,  when  they  came  to  compound  for  their 
mortuaries.  Now  a  mortuary  is  a  customary  duty, 
supposed  to  be  due  for  tithes  and  oblations  neglected 
to  be  paid  by  the  deceased ;  so  that  it  is  not  due  by 
law,  as  my  lord  rCoke  observeth,  but  by  custom. 
And  it  was  not  only  customary  to  pay  this  duty,  but 
it  was  usual  to  bring  it  to  the  church  when  the 
corpse  was  buried,  and  then  to  offer  it  as  a  satisfaction 

r  2d  Instit.  p.  491. 


,374  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  for  the  supposed  negligence  in  substracting  tithes, 
"and  from  hence,  as  sMr.  Selden  tells  us,  it  was  called 
a  corse-present.  His  method  upon  such  occasions 
was  this  :  when  any  clergyman  died  poor,  or  but  in 
indifferent  circumstances,  and  left  many  children 
behind  him,  and  those  unprovided  for,  he  always 
remitted  the  mortuary,  and  gave  them  some  good 
exhortations ;  and  in  order  the  better  to  make  them 
effectual,  he  administered  to  them  some  seasonable 
relief,  by  way  of  present,  if  the  difficulty  of  their 
case  required  it.  And  it  is  farther  asserted,  by  those 
who  were  intimately  acquainted  with  his  lordship's 
proceedings,  that  he  was  very  kind  to  all  his  clergy 
in  their  compositions,  and  to  prevent  any  oppression 
from  the  management  of  his  steward,  he  gave  him 
self  the  trouble  of  settling  these  matters.  And  it  is 
the  opinion  of  some  that  very  well  understand  this 
affair,  that  it  would  be  of  great  importance  to  the 
welfare  of  that  diocese,  if  some  certain  method  could 
be  fixed  on  to  make  clergymen's  widows  more  easy 
in  this  respect. 

Sometimes  in  the  dispositions  of  his  charity  the 
bishop  had  a  particular  regard  to  the  good  of  souls ; 
and  because  it  is  very  difficult  to  instruct  those  in 
the  necessary  principles  of  religion,  who  are  grown 
old  in  ignorance,  he  therefore  enticed  such  by  a 
pecuniary  allowance  to  submit  themselves  to  receive 
knowledge.  It  is  certain,  that  the  extremities  of 
old  age  participate  in  some  degree  of  the  weak  and 
helpless  condition  of  childhood,  and  what  makes  it 
still  much  more  lamentable  is,  when  the  mind,  for 

s  History  of  Tythes,  287.  Sir  William  Dugdale,  in  his  Anti 
quities  of  Warwickshire,  hath  a  learned  discourse  upon  mortuaries, 
p.  679. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  375 

want  of  due  cultivation  in  the  preceding  stages  of  1708. 
life,  is  altogether  destitute  of  those  Christian  princi 
ples  which  should  then  support  and  comfort  it.  And 
therefore  a  charity  of  this  nature,  which  endeavoured 
to  repair  the  omissions  of  a  neglected  education,  was 
of  the  greatest  importance ;  because  persons  in  that 
condition  stood  upon  the  brink  of  eternity,  without 
having  made  that  provision  which  was  necessary  to 
secure  the  happiness  of  so  great  a  change.  He 
allowed  therefore  twelve  pence  a  week  apiece  to 
twelve  old  people  of  Brecknock,  upon  condition  that 
they  would  submit  to  learn  the  principles  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  be  ready  and  willing  to  give 
an  account  of  them. 

When  the  bishop  came  to  live  at  Brecknock,  they 
had  public  prayers  in  that  place  only  upon  Wednes 
days  and  Fridays,  but  by  his  care  during  his  stay 
there,  they  have  prayers  now  every  morning  and 
evening  in  the  week.  The  method  he  took  to 
establish  this  daily  exercise  of  devotion  was  briefly 
this :  upon  his  visiting  the  college  in  that  town,  he 
made  the  following  proposal  to  the  prebendaries, 
that,  whereas  they  had  each  of  them  a  certain  yearly 
stipend  under  the  name  of  a  pension,  out  of  their 
respective  prebends,  towards  reading  of  daily  prayers 
in  the  college  chapel,  which  by  reason  of  its  distance 
from  the  body  of  the  town,  were  very  little  fre 
quented,  and  indeed  hardly  by  any  but  the  scholars 
of  the  free-school,  which  is  adjoining  to  it ;  those 
pensions  should  for  the  future  be  applied  to  encou 
rage  the  vicar  of  Brecknock  to  perform  daily  the 
morning  and  evening  service  in  the  town  church,  or 
chapel,  as  it  is  usually  called.  This  proposal  ap 
peared  to  them  so  reasonable,  that  they  all  readily 


376  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  agreed  to  it.  By  this  means  the  vicarage  is  con- 
"siderably  augmented,  and  the  college  prayers  are 
still  kept  up  for  the  benefit  of  the  scholars,  to  whom 
chiefly  they  could  be  of  use  since  the  ruin  of  the 
college  ;  the  master  of  the  school  having  ever  since 
discharged  that  duty  ;  and  the  bishop  for  his  encou 
ragement  gave  him  a  prebend  just  by  the  town,  with 
design  that  it  might  for  ever  be  annexed  to  the  school. 
And  whereas  at  Caermarthen  they  had  only  morn 
ing  prayers  upon  week  days  when  his  lordship  first 
came  to  that  town,  he  set  up  also  constant  evening 
prayers;  and  towards  this  additional  labour  he  al 
lowed  the  curate  the  yearly  synodals  of  the  arch 
deaconry  ;  to  which  Mr.  Archdeacon  Tenison,  who 
is  very  ready  to  contribute  to  all  works  of  charity 
and  piety,  being  then  upon  the  place,  added  twenty 
shillings  a  year  out  of  his  revenue  there,  and  the 
prayers  are  still  kept  up  and  well  frequented. 

Redesign-       LXXVII.    Sometime   before    his   last    sickness, 

ed  to  have 

sentacir-   after  he  removed  from  Brecknock  to  Abermarless, 

cular  letter   .  «-ii  i  c        -i  i  •  n     i  • 

to  all  his     he  entertained  thoughts    or   addressing    to    all    his 


clergy?  by  way  of  a  circular  letter,  in  order  to  re- 
commend  to  their  consideration,  and  press  upon  their 
was  drawn  practice,  some  very  important  methods  for  promoting 
virtue  and  piety  in  his  diocese  ;  and  after  his  death 
there  was  found  among  his  papers  a  letter  drawn  up 
to  that  purpose.  It  is  certain  that  it  had  not  his 
last  hand,  and  wants  that  perfection  which  usually 
attended  whatever  he  composed  ;  but  however,  be 
cause  the  matter  of  it  is  unexceptionable,  and  the 
design  of  it  hath  a  great  tendency  to  advance  the 
interest  of  religion  ;  and  because  it  sheweth  at  the 
same  time  how  the  thoughts  of  the  good  bishop  were 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  377 

to  the  last  fixed  upon  the  service  of  his  great  Mas-    1708. 
ter,  in  forwarding  the  good  of  souls,  I  shall  insert  it 
in  this  place,  begging  indulgence  from  the  reader  for 
any  defects  that  may  appear  in  a  plan  which  was 
not  finished  by  his  lordship. 

To  the  Reverend  the  Archdeacons  and  the  rest  of 
the  Clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  Stt  David's. 

MY  BRETHREN, 

BEING  desirous,  according  to  my  duty,  to  pro-  The  design 
mote  the  salvation  of  those  souls  which  the  pro  vi-  ter.  1S 
dence  of  God  hath,  in  a  particular  manner,  com 
mitted  to  my  care  ;  and  being  sensible  that  this 
great  work  can  be  no  otherwise  effected,  than  by 
advancing  the  interest  and  power  of  religion  in  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  men  :  give  me  leave  to  suggest  to 
you,  my  brethren,  my  fellow-labourers  in  the  Lord, 
some  few  methods,  which  I  conceive  may  be  of  ad 
mirable  use  to  this  purpose  ;  which,  if  we  are  so  happy 
as  to  accomplish,  will  greatly  tend  to  the  increase  of 
piety  and  virtue  in  my  diocese,  and  enable  us  all  to 
give  up  our  accounts  at  the  last  great  day,  when  we 
shall  appear  before  the  tribunal  of  Christ,  with  joy, 
and  not  with  grief. 

The  first  thing  therefore  that  I  would  recommend  The  first 
to  you,  and  which  I  do  earnestly  exhort  you  to,  is  commend- 


to  apply  yourselves  with  great  diligence  to 
the  practice  of  family  devotion  in  all  the  families   ™     de" 
of  your  respective  parishes.     I  need   not   prove   to 
you  what  is  so  very  manifest,  that  nothing  helpetli 
more  to  keep  up  a  sense  of  religion  in  the  minds  of 
men,  than  a  serious,  reverent,  and  constant  perform 
ance  of  this  necessary  duty  ;  whereby  both  the  glory 
of  God  is  much  advanced,  and  many  blessings  do 


378  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  also  accrue  to  those  who  in  this  manner  daily  adore 
and  praise  their  great  Creator,  the  Lover  of  souls. 
But  in  order  to  this  purpose,  I  must  with  some 
warmth  beseech  you  to  make  a  particular  applica 
tion  to  every  housekeeper  in  your  several  parishes, 
and  to  endeavour  to  convince  them,  if  need  be,  how 
much  it  is  their  interest,  as  well  as  duty,  to  worship 
God  daily  in  their  families ;  since  it  is  not  only  the 
properest  expression  of  their  own  piety,  but  the  like 
liest  method  to  make  their  children  and  servants 
obedient  and  faithful :  and  I  would  farther  advise 
you  to  second  your  exhortations  of  this  kind  with 
recommending  to  them  some  small  books,  which 
explain  and  press  this  duty,  and  lay  down  forms  for 
the  performance  of  it.  I  am  assured  that  there  are 
several  *  books  of  this  kind  to  be  purchased  at  very 
easy  rates ;  and  I  could  wish,  that  your  own  abilities, 
or  the  assistance  of  some  charitable  and  well-disposed 
neighbour,  might  lodge  these  gratis  in  the  families 

t  Books  of  this  kind  are,  viz. 

The  Necessary  Duty  of  Family  Prayer.  Price  \d.  or  6s.  per 
hundred. 

Exhortation  to  Housekeepers  to  set  up  the  Worship  of  God  in 
their  Families,  with  daily  Prayers  for  Morning  and  Evening.  Price 
id.  or  6s.  per  hundred. 

The  Necessity  of  Family  Prayer,  and  the  deplorable  Condition 
of  prayerless  Families  considered,  with  Prayers  for  their  Use. 
Price  \d.  or  6s.  per  hundred. 

All  three  printed  by  J.  Downing,  in  Bartholomew-close. 

Family  Devotion  ;  or,  an  Exhortation  to  Morning  and  Evening 
Prayer,  with  two  Forms  suited  thereunto,  as  also  for  private  use. 
By  E.  Gibson,  D.  D.  Printed  for  R.  Whitledge.  Price  3^.  or 
los.  per  hundred. 

Family  Religion  ;  or  the  Exercise  of  Prayer  and  Devotion  in 
private  Families.  Printed  for  B.  Aylmer.  Price  2d.  or  los.  per 
hundred. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  379 

of  the  poorer  sort ;  though  if  you  procure  a  sufficient     i7°8- 
number  of  such  books,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted,  but 
that  when  your  parishioners  think  them  necessary, 
they  will  readily  pay  for  the  same,  the  price  being 
so  very  inconsiderable. 

These  your  exhortations,  and  procuring  books  to 
that  purpose,  being  backed  with  your  frequent  and 
repeated  admonitions,  will,  I  hope,  by  the  assistance 
of  divine  grace,  bring  all  your  parishioners  to  the 
constant  and  serious  practice  of  family  prayer; 
especially  if  you  represent  to  them  at  the  same  time 
the  great  importance  of  exercising  this  duty,  not 
only  as  it  relates  to  the  propagating  of  true  piety 
and  religion  in  the  present  age,  but  also  as  it  tends 
to  the  securing  of  them  in  all  future  ages.  For  the 
example  of  parents  and  masters  will,  in  all  proba 
bility,  make  such  deep  impressions  upon  the  minds 
of  their  children  and  servants,  as  to  excite  them  to 
an  imitation  of  their  practice,  whenever  they  shall 
become  themselves  masters  of  families ;  and  so  then 
this  duty  will  not  only  be  observed  in  their  families 
at  present;  but  probably  also  in  all  those  families 
that  shall  descend  and  issue  from  them  for  ever. 

And  to  make  this  exercise  of  family  devotion  still 
more  useful,  you  must  farther  exhort  them,  when 
they  have  leisure,  as  they  often  have  on  winter 
evenings,  especially  on  Sundays,  to  introduce  their 
family  prayers  with  reading  some  portions  of  holy 
Scripture,  and  of  other  pious  and  religious  books 
proper  to  instruct  and  persuade  them  to  the  diligent 
discharge  of  all  Christian  virtues. 

And  since  it  is  matter  of  great  grief  and  sorrow 
to  all  those  who  unfeignedly  labour  in  the  Gospel, 
and  are  intrusted  with  the  care  of  precious  and  im- 


380  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  mortal  souls,  to  observe  in  their  several  parishes  the 
~  habitual  neglect  of  this  duty,  upon  the  constant  use 
whereof  the  spiritual  welfare  of  their  parishioners 
doth  so  much  depend ;  I  cannot  forbear  solemnly 
charging  you  to  exert  yourselves  with  more  than 
ordinary  zeal  in  this  matter;  that  so  this  affair  of 
such  great  consequence  to  the  good  of  souls,  may 
in  your  several  parishes  be  brought  to  its  wished-for 
and  desired  perfection. 

The  second  The  second  thing  that  I  shall  recommend  and 
commend-  earnestly  exhort  you  to,  as  of  singular  use  towards 
h!g 'charity "promoting  religion  in  a  wicked  and  degenerate  age, 
schools.  js  IQ  endeavour  the  erecting  charity -schools  in  your 
several  parishes ;  wherein  the  children  of  the  poor 
may  be  taught  to  read  and  write,  and  to  repeat  our 
excellent  Church  Catechism,  and  to  understand  the 
principles  of  our  holy  religion,  which  are  so  neces 
sary  to  their  eternal  salvation ;  and  whereby  they 
may  be  fitted  to  receive  farther  instructions  from 
those  discourses  you  shall  from  time  to  time  make 
to  them  from  the  pulpit.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted 
but  that  a  great  part  of  that  profaneness  and  de 
bauchery,  which  prevails  among  the  poorer  sort,  is 
very  much  owing  to  that  gross  ignorance  of  religion, 
which  abounds  among  them :  now  what  remedy  so 
proper  to  prevent  this  fatal  mischief,  as  the  Chris 
tian  education  of  poor  children  under  strict  disci 
pline?  And  this  ought  the  rather  to  be  attempted, 
because  I  am  informed  many  poor  people  in  this 
diocese  are  very  desirous  that  their  children  should 
receive  the  benefit  of  such  an  education,  though 
they  are  not  able  to  be  at  the  charge  of  procuring 
it  for  them. 

This  I  do  the  more  heartily  recommend  to  you, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  381 

because  it  hath  already  been  blessed,  by  the  gracious 
providence  of  God,  with  great  success  in  many  other 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  especially  in  and  about  the 
cities  of  London  and  Westminster ;  where  there  are 
not  only  great  numbers  of  children  instructed  gratis, 
in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion,  but  are 
also  placed  out  to  several  different  occupations,  and  by 
degrees  made  useful  members  of  the  commonwealth. 
And  indeed  I  hardly  know  any  charity  that  is  at 
tended  with  greater  advantages  to  the  souls  and 
bodies  of  poor  creatures,  than  this  which  I  now  re 
commend  to  you. 

In  order  to  this  purpose,  I  beseech  you  to  apply 
yourselves  to  such  of  your  parishioners  as  are  willing 
to  contribute  towards  the  carrying  on  this  very  good 
work,  and  who  are  able  by  their  subscriptions  to 
answer  the  necessary  expense  which  attends  it. 
Lead  them  by  your  own  example,  and  upon  this  oc 
casion  do  not  fail  to  throw  your  mite  into  the  trea 
sury.  Neither  you  nor  they,  I  am  satisfied,  will 
ever  be  able  to  employ  your  alms  better,  nor  direct 
your  charity  to  nobler  purposes.  As  to  the  methods 
of  erecting  and  governing  these  charity-schools,  they 
are  laid  down  with  so  much  judgment  and  exact 
ness  in  the  Account  of  Charity  Schools,  that  is  an 
nually  printed  at  London,  and  distributed  all  over 
the  kingdom,  that  I  shall  suggest  nothing  to  you 
upon  that  head,  but  desire  you  to  consult  that  Ac 
count,  and  seriously  to  peruse  it  for  your  farther 
direction. 

And  since  I  am  upon  the  subject  of  instructing 
children,  I  desire  you  to  signify  to  all  schoolmasters 
within  your  several  parishes,  that  they  take  care  to 
use  prayers  in  their  schools  morning  and  evening; 


382  THE   LIFE  OF 

1708.    and  that  they  not  only  instruct  their  scholars  in  the 
~~  Church  Catechism,  but  also  teach  them  short  prayers 
for  their  private  use,  obliging  them  never  to  omit 
repeating  them  morning  and  evening.     And  I  desire 
you  to  inquire  frequently,  how  the  schoolmasters  of 
your  several  parishes  discharge  these  abovementioned 
duties ;  it  being  of  the  greatest  consequence  to  the 
welfare  both  of  the  church  and  the  state,  that  all 
children  should  be  religiously  and  piously  educated. 
And  therefore  I  require  you  from  time  to  time  to 
signify  to  me  the  names  of  such  schoolmasters  as, 
after  your  repeated  admonitions,  shall  neglect  their 
duty  as  to   the  aforesaid  particulars,  that  their  li 
cences  may  be  revoked,  and  that  they  may  be  de 
clared  for  the  future  incapable  of  so  great  a  trust. 
The  third        A  third  thing  that  I  shall  recommend  to  you,  as 
commend-   very   useful   towards   propagating   Christian   know- 
braryof1    ledge,  is  to  endeavour    to  dispose   all  parents   that 
poetical     are  °f  ability  in  your   several  parishes,   to  supply 
divinity  for  eacjt   ^  ijie{r   children,  before    they  marry,  or   are 
otherwise  settled  in  the  world,  with  a  small  u  library, 
containing  books  of  practical  divinity  to  the   value 
of  three,  four,  or  five  pounds,  fixed  in  a  little  press 
with   shelves  proper  for   that   purpose.      This   will 
make  any  portion  that  parents  are  able  to  bestow 
upon  their  children  a  true  blessing ;  and  indeed  is  a 
very  valuable  present,  since  it  tends  so  directly  to 
provide  for  the  welfare  of  their  immortal  souls.    And 

11  There  has  been  since  printed  a  sheet  of  paper,  called  The 
young  Christian's  Library;  or  a  collection  of  good  and  useful 
books,  proper  to  be  given  to  young  persons  by  their  parents,  in 
order  to  their  Christian  education  and  improvement,  &c.  Printed 
and  sold  by  J.  Downing  in  Bartholomew-close,  near  West- Smith- 
field. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  383 

to  render  this  most  effectual,  they  ought  to  enjoin  1708. 
their  children,  at  the  same  time  they  make  them 
this  present  of  books,  to  read  them  often  and  se 
riously,  and  to  keep  them  with  care  and  safety  dur 
ing  their  lives,  and  then  to  leave  them  in  the  same 
good  condition  to  their  posterity ;  by  which  means 
the  knowledge  of  religion  may  be  propagated  from 
age  to  age  in  all  future  generations. 

The  fourth  thing  I  shall  recommend  to  you,  is  The  fourth 
to   give    notice   to   all  your  parishioners,   that   thelJ^end. 
Common  Prayer  Book  in    Welsh  is  lately  printed  ^^ 
in    a    small   volume,    and   sold   by    Mr.  Whitledge,Common 
bookseller,  in  Ave-Maria-lane,  at  London;  and  ^ 
Mr.  Thomas    Jones    at    Shrewsbury;    so    that    all 
your  parishioners  may  supply  themselves  therewith. 
These  Common  Prayer  Books  are  much  wanted  by 
the  people  of  my  diocese,  and  I  am  informed,  that 
they  will  be  universally  purchased,  especially  since 
they  will  be  sold  for  about  eighteenpence  apiece. 
And  to  facilitate  this  matter,  and  make  it  easy  to 
your  parishioners,   I   would   advise   you    to   collect 
money  of  them,  in  order  to  buy  such  quantities  as 
may  supply  their  occasions ;  that  by  this  means  they 
may  quickly  and  easily  be  dispersed   through  the 
whole  diocese. 

I  need  not  suggest  to  you  the  advantages  that 
will  arise  from  your  success  in  this  matter:  they 
appear  at  first  sight,  and  a  little  consideration  will 
make  them  familiar  to  you.  And  that  the  poor  may 
be  brought  to  give  their  attendance  in  the  house  of 
God,  I  conceive  it  may  be  very  proper  for  you  to 
persuade  the  gentlemen,  and  other  persons  of  abi 
lity  within  your  several  parishes,  who  usually  on 


384  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.  Sundays  relieve  the  poor  at  their  own  doors,  to  con 
fine  that  charity  to  such  as  have  that  day  been  at 
church ;  and,  if  it  may  be  convenient,  even  to  give 
their  alms  at  the  church  doors.  This  method  will 
in  all  probability  excite  the  poor  to  diligence,  in 
attending  the  public  worship  of  God. 

The  fifth  The  fifth  thing  that  I  shall  recommend  to  you, 
commend-  and  to  which  I  do  most  earnestly  exhort  you,  is,  that 
cu're°the0  2/ou  would  endeavour  to  use  your  interest  with  the 
p^i^exe.  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  other  counties  of  my 
cuti.on  diocese,  to  follow  the  example  of  those  of  Caermar- 

agamst 

vice  and      then :    \vhere   several  worthy  justices   of  the   peace 

immorality.  . 

have  exerted  themselves  with  great  vigour,  to  sup 
press  vice  and  immorality,  as  appears  by  the  under 
written  paper,  which  they  subscribed  in  open  quar 
ter-sessions,  and  which  afterwards  was  dispersed 
into  every  parish  of  the  said  county;  and  which, 
as  I  am  informed,  hath  had  a  wonderful  influence 
upon  the  lives  and  manners  of  the  people. 

The  making  of  the  best  laws  is  but  of  small  im 
portance,  if  no  care  is  taken  to  put  them  in  exe 
cution  ;  they  shew  indeed  the  wisdom  of  those  that 
have  contrived  and  enacted  them ;  but  they  will 
leave  us  where  they  found  us,  except  magistrates 
put  on  vigour  and  resolution,  to  render  them  effec 
tual  to  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  designed. 
This  duty  was  urged  upon  all  the  magistrates  of  the 
kingdom,  by  her  majesty  herself,  upon  her  happy 
accession  to  the  throne,  as  one  of  her  first  cares  for 
the  welfare  of  her  people ;  and  indeed,  it  tendeth  so 
apparently  to  the  honour  of  God,  as  well  as  to  the 
good  of  all  her  majesty's  subjects,  that  it  is  no  won 
der  that  it  should  be  so  particularly  the  concern 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  385 

of  a  princess,  who  is  distinguished  by  her  zeal  for 
both. 

You  may  farther  strengthen  the  example  of  the 
justices  of  the  peace  of  Caermarthen  with  the  prac 
tice  of  several  worthy  societies  in  this  kingdom,  who 
(to  their  true  honour  be  it  spoken)  zealously  labour 
in  this  good  work  of  reformation  of  manners.  I  do 
therefore  most  heartily  recommend  them  both  to 
their  imitation,  and  exhort  you  to  solicit  their  com 
pliance  with  this  my  recommendation,  in  regard 
such  extraordinary  success  hath  attended  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  gentlemen  in  the  county  of  Caermar 
then  ;  and  that  by  the  endeavours  of  the  societies 
many  thousands  of  lewd  and  disorderly  persons  have 
been  brought  to  legal  punishment. 

There  is  one  instance  more  of  the  good  disposi 
tions  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  of  Caermarthen- 
shire,  which  I  desire  you  to  lay  before  the  justices  of 
the  peace  of  the  other  counties  of  my  diocese  ;  and 
which  I  require  you  to  exhort  them  to  imitate ;  viz. 
the  method  they  take  of  providing  for  the  spiritual 
wants  of  poor  prisoners  in  their  county  goal,  by 
allowing  a  salary  of  five  pounds  per  annum  to  a 
clergyman,  to  read  to  them  divine  service  every 
Lord's  day,  and  frequently  to  administer  to  them 
the  comfortable  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

I  shall  conclude  this  long  letter,  with  praying  to 
God,  from  whom  cometh  every  good  and  perfect 
gift,  that  he  would  enable  you  by  his  grace  to  per 
form  what  I  have  recommended  to  you,  as  tending 
very  much  to  the  honour  and  service  of  our  great 
Master ;  and  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  bless  your 

c  c 


386  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.    sincere  endeavours  with  success:  and  at  the  same 
~  time  I  do  assure  you  that  I  am, 

My  dear  brethren, 
Your  most  affectionate  brother 
and  humble  servant, 
GEORGE  ST.  DAVID'S. 

The  paper  mentioned  to  be  underwritten. 

WHEREAS  the  queen  has  issued  forth  her  seve 
ral  proclamations,  for  suppressing  vice  and  immo 
rality;  wherein  she  strictly  enjoins  all  magistrates 
to  put  the  laws  impartially  in  execution  against  all 
persons  that  are  guilty  of  profane  cursing  and  swear 
ing,  profanation  of  the  Lord's  day,  or  any  other 
vice  and  immorality ;  and  whereas  there  has  been 
a  general  defect  in  putting  the  laws  in  execution 
against  such  offenders,  both  in  England  and  Wales, 
until  lately  the  magistrates,  in  pursuance  of  the 
said  several  proclamations  in  England,  have  exerted 
themselves  vigorously  and  impartially  on  these  occa 
sions,  and  have  given  countenance  and  encourage-- 
ment  to  those  persons  that  gave  informations  of  the 
commission  of  the  said  crimes :  therefore  we,  whose 
names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  being  magistrates  in 
the  county  of  Caermarthen,  do  look  upon  ourselves 
to  be  under  an  indispensable  duty  to  follow  their 
good  example ;  and  we  do  hereby  unanimously  de 
clare,  that  we  will  impartially  put  the  laws  in  exe 
cution  against  all  such  persons,  that  shall  curse  and 
swear,  and  profane  the  Lord's  day,  or  commit  any 
other  vice  or  immorality.  And  also  we  declare,  that 
we  will  give  all  due  countenance  and  encouragement 
to  all  such  persons,  that  shall  give  us  information  of 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  387 

these  crimes,  being  sensible,  that  they  do  the  greatest 
acts  of  charity  to  the  guilty  persons,  in  endeavouring 
their  reformation.  And  we  do  hereby  farther  de 
clare  and  promise  voluntarily,  in  order  to  silence  an 
objection  usually  made,  that  magistrates  are  guilty, 
and  do  not  pay ;  that  we  will  pay  any  forfeiture  we 
shall  incur  by  the  commission  of  the  said  crimes, 
being  convinced  that  the  poor  have  a  right  to  it  by 
law,  and  whosoever  detains  it  will  do  an  act  of  in 
justice  ;  therefore  no  person  must  expect  favour  or 
connivance,  since  we  ate  so  impartial  to  ourselves. 
And  we  do  hereby  earnestly  request  the  reverend 
the  clergy  of  the  several  parishes  of  this  county,  to 
cause  this  to  be  written  in  a  fair  hand  on  parch 
ment  ;  and  afterwards  that  they  cause  the  church 
wardens  of  their  several  parishes  to  fix  it  on  a  board, 
and  frame  it  in  ;  that  it  may  be  kept  safe,  and  hung 
out  at  the  church  door  duly  every  year  three  times, 
viz.  at  Whitsuntide,  Easter,  and  Christmas,  by  the 
sextons  of  the  several  parishes,  and  at  all  times 
that  the  act  of  parliament  against  cursing  and  swear 
ing  is  read  in  the  churches  ;  that  all  persons  may  be 
reminded  often  of  these  our  resolutions,  and  to  avoid 
the  commission  of  the  aforesaid  crimes.  Given  under 
our  hands,  at  open  quarter-sessions,  the  sixth  day 
of  October,  1708. 

THOMAS  POWELL. 

GRIFFITH  LLOYD. 

WILLIAM  BRIGSTOCK. 

THOMAS  LLOYD. 

HENRY  VAUGHAN. 

JOHN  VAUGHAN. 


c  c  2 


888  THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.        LXXVIII.  One  great  means  of  maintaining  the 
The  bishop  purity  of  the  faith  among  the  people,  and  discipline 
tan  i    among  the  clergv  m  the  priwiitive  times,  was  the 


in  his  dio-  constant  residence  of  the  bishop  in  his  diocese  ;  and 
the  absence  of  prelates  from  that  district  committed 
to  their  particular  superintendance  hath  been  at 
tended  with  fatal  consequences  to  the  churches  under 
their  government.  The  description  which  our  Sa 
viour  maketh  of  the  good  shepherd  seemeth  to 
require  their  attendance  ;  for  how  shall  he  know  his 
sheep  by  their  name,  and  how  shall  he  walk  before 
them,  if  he  doth  not  constantly  reside  among  them  ? 
And  how  shall  any  irregularities  among  the  clergy 
be  either  prevented  or  rectified,  when  the  episcopal 
authority  is  wanting  to  both  purposes  ?  The  nature 
of  the  bishop's  office,  before  settled  revenues  were 
affixed  to  bishoprics,  required  his  constant  attend 
ance  ;  for  he  had  a  particular  authority  in  disposing 
the  incomes  of  the  church,  and  it  was  his  care  to  see 
them  managed  to  the  best  advantage.  The  ancient 
x  councils  have  several  canons,  which  require  that  all 
the  incomes  and  oblations  should  be  dispensed  by 
the  will  and  discretion  of  the  bishop,  to  whose  care 
the  people  and  the  souls  of  men  are  committed.  The 
apostolical  canons  mention  the  same  power  ;  and 
though  he  had  proper  assistants  under  him,  yet  they 
were  only  stewards  of  his  own  appointing,  and  were 
accountable  to  him  as  the  supreme  governor  of  his 
church.  And  when  the  empire  became  Christian, 
and  churchmen  became  too  secular,  councils  took 
care  to  regulate  this  matter  :  for  the  council  of 

x  Mr.  Bingham's  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  &c.,  vol.  ii. 
p.  384. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  389 

Sardica  hath  several  canons  which  relate  to  it.  The  1708. 
seventh  decreeth,  that  no  bishop  should  go  to  the 
emperor's  court,  unless  the  emperor  by  letter  called 
him  thither :  the  very  next  canon  to  that  provides, 
that  whereas  there  might  be  cases  which  might 
require  a  bishop  to  make  some  application  to  the 
emperor  in  behalf  of  the  poor  or  widows,  or  of  such 
who  fled  for  sanctuary  to  the  church,  as  condemned 
criminals,  and  the  like ;  in  such  cases  the  deacons  of 
the  church  were  to  be  employed  to  go  in  his  name, 
that  the  bishop  might  fall  under  no  censure  at  court 
as  neglecting  the  business  of  his  church.  Justinian 
hath  a  law  of  the  same  import,  that  no  bishop  should 
appear  at  court  upon  any  business  of  his  church, 
without  the  command  of  his  prince.  But  if  any 
petition  was  preferred  to  the  emperor  relating  to  any 
civil  contest,  the  bishop  should  depute  his  apocrisi- 
arius  or  resident  at  court  to  act  for  him,  or  send  his 
recoriomus,  or  some  other  of  his  clergy,  to  solicit  the 
cause  in  his  name,  that  the  church  might  never  re 
ceive  damage  by  his  absence,  nor  be  put  to  unneces 
sary  expenses.  Another  canon  of  the  Sardican  coun 
cil  limits  the  absence  of  the  bishop  to  three  weeks, 
unless  it  were  upon  some  very  weighty  and  urgent 
occasion.  And  another  canon  alloweth  no  more 
time  for  a  bishop  who  is  possessed  of  an  estate  to 
go  and  collect  his  revenues  ;  and  that  with  this  con 
dition,  provided  he  celebrates  divine  service  every 
Lord's  day  in  the  country  church  where  his  estate 
lieth.  Our  worthy  bishop,  in  order  to  pursue  his 
duty  according  to  the  directions  of  the  great  Shep 
herd  of  souls,  chose  his  diocese  for  the  only  place  of 
his  residence ;  and  by  that  means  he  made  some 
amends  for  that  imperfect  manner  wherewith  he 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1708.    performed  the  administrations  of  his  holy  function; 

~  which  did  not  proceed  from  negligence  or  any  want 

of  a  right  intention  to  discharge  them,  but  from  his 

weakness   and   infirmities,    and   from   that   load  of 

years  under  which  he  now  laboured. 

The  bishop      It  is  a  common  observation,  that  the  best  things 

extremely 

surprised  by  corruption  become  the  worst  ;  but  1  am  sure  it 
nlacai  '"  '"  holds  good  in  no  case  so  surely  as  in  those  that 
priest.  undertake  the  priestly  office  ;  who  if  they  contradict 
their  ordination  vows  in  the  constant  course  of  their 
lives,  if  they  are  false  to  those  engagements  which 
they  solemnly  entered  into  before  God  and  the 
church,  they  become  the  greatest  and  most  despe 
rate  sinners  ;  their  guilt  is  attended  with  the  highest 
aggravation,  and  with  the  least  hopes  of  repentance. 
An  instance  of  such  a  deplorable  wretch  bishop  Bull 
once  met  with  ;  for  while  he  lived  at  Brecknock, 
there  was  a  certain  clergyman  applied  to  him  for 
preferment,  and  being  conscious  of  his  want  of  those 
qualifications  which  the  bishop  required  in  those  he 
advanced  to  any  considerable  station,  he  was  resolved 
to  try  another  method  ;  for  bad  men,  judging  of 
others  by  themselves,  easily  persuade  themselves, 
that  other  men  are  influenced  by  those  corrupt  prin 
ciples  which  prevail  in  their  own  minds  ;  he  had  the 
impudence  to  offer  him  a  purse  of  gold  ;  the  good 
bishop  saw  it  and  trembled,  and  was  never  known 
to  express  a  greater  concern  than  upon  that  occa 
sion  ;  the  confusion  he  was  in  upon  such  an  unex 
pected  provocation  extremely  disordered  him,  and 
he  immediately  sent  away  this  abandoned  prostitute 
with  great  indignation. 


LXXIX.  The  bishop  by  the  method  of  his  studies 

strength 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  391 

contracted  several   indispositions   of  body,  such  as     1708. 


commonly  attend   all    hard    students,    especially   if  by  intense 
they  make   choice  of  the  night  for   that   purpose.  ^nab'iT*1 
But  though  this  was  agreeable  enough  to  his  genius, study* 
and  very  serviceable  to  the  ends  he  proposed  by  it ; 
yet  he  was  at  last  convinced  of  its  fatal  effects  upon 
his  whole  constitution,  which  he  thereby  found  sen 
sibly  broken.     All  the  time  he   continued  in  the 
diocese   of  St.  David's  he  was  sickly,  never  being 
well  long   together ;    colds,   and    other   distempers 
which  take  thence  their  rise,  created  him  almost 
continually  some  uneasiness  in  his  body,  the  entire 
frame  whereof  he  perceived  to  be  mightily  impaired; 
and  particularly  his  eyesight,  the  decay  of  which 
he  attributed  to  nothing  else  but  his  studying  so 
much  at  unseasonable  hours. 

In  this  uncertain  state  of  health,  without  any  1709. 
considerable  alteration,  he  continued  till  the  27th 
of  September,  1709-  That  morning  he  was  seized sickness 
with  a  most  violent  fit  of  coughing,  which  by  the 
violence  of  the  fit  ended  at  last  in  spitting  of  blood, 
which  he  lost  that  way  in  considerable  quantities  for 
some  hours.  But  this  spitting  of  blood  was  by  de 
grees  stopped  for  the  present  by  his  drinking  two  or 
three  glasses  of  cold  water.  The  next  day  his  bleed 
ing  returned  about  the  same  hour,  but  could  not 
then  be  stopped  without  opening  a  vein,  at  which 
he  bled  very  freely,  which  succeeded  as  well  as  could 
be  expected.  The  loss  of  so  much  blood  every  way, 
together  with  the  usual  regimen  prescribed  him  in 
that  distemper,  whereby  he  was  restrained  from  all 
nourishing  meats  and  all  strong  drinks,  did  so 
weaken  him,  that  it  quite  broke  that  little  strength 
of  constitution  which  still  remained ;  so  that  when 


392  THE  LIFE  OF 

709.  his  last  sickness  seized  him  in  February  following, 
~~  he  had  not  strength  enough  to  bear  up  long  under 
it.  For  his  distemper  was  supposed  to  have  been 
an  ulcer,  or  what  they  call  the  inward  piles,  occa 
sioned  by  stagnated  blood  in  the  hsemorrhoid  veins, 
which  under  a  violent  looseness  affected  him  with 
great  and  exquisite  pain  ;  so  that  the  whole  tjme  of 
his  confinement  did  not  exceed  a  fortnight. 
1710.  As  soon  as  his  distemper  obliged  him  to  keep  his 
of  chamber,  he  perceived  that  his  dissolution  was  near 
at  hand;  and  accordingly  declared,  "That  he  was 
death.  «  now  sensible  of  his  own  decay,  and  that  he  was 
"  sure  he  could  not  live  many  days."  His  physicians 
seemed  to  incline  to  the  same  opinion  after  some 
short  attendance  ;  though  they  expressed  themselves 
herein  with  some  hesitation  and  reserve  ;  which  the 
good  bishop  perceiving,  thus  addressed  himself  to 
one  of  them  ;  Doctor,  you  need  not  be  afraid  to 
tell  me  freely  what  your  opinion  of  me  is  ;  for  I 
thank  my  good  God  I  am  not  afraid  to  die:  it  is 
what  I  have  expected  long  ago  ;  and  I  hope  I  am 
not  unprepared  for  it  now.  Repentance  and  mor-^ 
tification  had  been  so  much  the  happy  work  of  his 
strongest  and  healthful  days,  that  when  death  ap 
proached,  he  received  the  summons,  not  only  with 
resignation,  but  with  some  degree  of  satisfaction. 
He  had  wisely  made  such  a  careful  preparation  for 
his  last  hours,  that  he  was  now  able  to  bear  the 
thoughts  and  approaches  of  his  great  change  with 
out  amazement  ;  he  had  overcome  that  strong  incli 
nation  of  nature,  whereby  men  usually  cleave  so 
fast  to  life,  by  the  wiser  dictates  of  reason  and  reli 
gion,  which  made  him  willing  and  contented  to  die 
whenever  God  thought  fit, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  393 

This  sense  of  his  approaching  departure  out  of  the     T710- 


world  made  him  careful  not  to  omit  any  thing  that  His  i 
could  be  now  done  both  for  himself  and  family,  for  ration  for 
the  better  securing  their  common  interest  and  salva 
tion.  During  the  time  therefore  of  his  confinement 
he  would  often  have  the  family  to  prayers  in  his 
chamber  at  the  usual  hour  ;  and  the  prayers  for  the 
sick  in  the  office  of  the  Visitation  were  added  upon 
those  occasions,  and  sometimes  the  Litany.  The 
prayers  for  the  sick  were  frequently  repeated  during 
the  whole  time  of  his  illness,  at  which  he  expressed 
always  great  devotion.  He  would  sometimes  desire 
to  receive  absolution  in  the  form  used  in  the  Com 
munion-office,  which  he  thought  came  nearer  to  the 
precatory  forms  of  absolution  mentioned  in  the  Fa 
thers  than  any  other.  But  it  doth  not  appear  that 
he  hereby  condemned  the  use  of  that  form,  which  is, 
at  least  in  some  cases,  prescribed  by  our  excellent 
church  in  her  office  for  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick,  or 
that  he  had  any  doubt  concerning  the  benefits  of 
sacerdotal  absolution,  or  of  that  authority  which  is 
derived  to  the  ministers  or  delegates  of  Christ  of 
forgiving  the  penitent  their  sins  in  his  name  ;  since 
in  his  last  acts  of  preparation  for  death  he  earnestly 
desired  it,  and  solemnly  received  it.  None  can 
deny  that  the  form  of  absolution  by  him  chosen  is 
certainly  primitive,  and  therefore  unexceptionable; 
whether  the  other  be  so  or  no,  hath  been  disputed 
by  the  learned  ;  and  he  had  a  right  to  choose  that 
against  which  no  exception  could  lie.  This  evi 
dently  was  the  case  of  this  excellent  prelate;  and 
upon  this  account,  I  suppose,  he  desired  no  other 
form  of  absolution  than  this,  which  was  undoubtedly 
most  ancient,  a  few  days  before  his  death  ;  when  in 


394  THE  LIFE  OF 

i710-  the  presence  of  several  persons  he  made  a  solemn 
confession  and  declaration  of  the  conduct  of  his 
whole  life,  and  so  took  his  leave  of  the  world  in  a 
manner  the  most  edifying  that  could  be.  Mr.  Bull 
his  son,  Mr.  Archdeacon  Stephens  his  son-in-law, 
and  Mr.  Philips,  a  clergyman  of  that  neighbourhood, 
besides  his  own  chaplain  Mr.  Havard,  were  of  the 
number  of  those  that  were  present  with  him  during 
his  sickness,  who  were  edified  not  a  little  with  what 
they  heard  from  his  mouth  ;  and  have  all  attested, 
that  he  bore  his  last  sufferings  with  a  resigned  tem 
per  and  firmness  of  mind,  which  nothing  bat  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  consciousness  of  a  well-spent 
life  could  inspire,  so  that  they  never  knew  a  warmer 
example,  to  influence  all  within  the  reach  of  it  to  a 
just  sense  of  their  own  duty. 

The  con-         First  the  bishop  made  a  public  confession  of  his 
faith  in  the  words  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.     Then  he 


gave  a  short  account  of  his  life,  running  over  the 
his  hfe.  several  stages  of  it,  making  useful  remarks  upon  the 
principal  passages  which  occurred  in  each  stage  ; 
recounting  the  several  errors  and  miscarriages  which 
attended  them,  as  far  as  he  could  recollect  them  by 
his  memory  at  that  time.  From  the  former  he  took 
occasion  to  admire  the  goodness  and  wisdom  of 
divine  Providence  in  the  disposal  of  all  the  events 
of  things  and  conditions  of  men  in  the  world  :  and 
to  bless  God  for  all  his  dispensations  towards  him 
self  in  particular,  whether  of  good  or  evil  things,  in 
the  whole  course  of  his  life. 

His  repent-     The  latter  gave  him  occasion  to  renew  his  sorrow 
ground  of  and   repentance    for   them,   and    for   all   the   other 


in  m's  Hfe  past,  which  he  might  have  for- 
gotten,  or  could   not  at   present  recollect;    for  all 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  395 

which  he  expressed  his  earnest  desire  of  mercy  and  i710- 
forgiveness  in  some  short  but  fervent  prayers  and 
ejaculations.  And  because  what  he  now  did  was 
perfectly  conformable  to  that  public  profession  which 
he  had  formerly  made  when  he  was  in  health,  and 
with  the  prospect  of  such  an  hour  as  this,  the 
reader  perhaps  will  not  be  sorry  to  have  here  a 
copy  of  it,  which  is  as  followeth  :  Y  "  I  most  firmly 
"  believe,5'  said  he,  "  that  as  I  yield  a  steadfast  assent 
"  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  as  I  work  out  true 
"  repentance  by  that  faith,  shaking  off,  by  the  grace 
"  of  God,  the  yoke  of  every  deadly  sin,  and  in 
"  earnest  devoting  myself  to  the  observation  of  his 
"  evangelical  law ;  I  shall  obtain  by  the  sovereign 
"  mercy  of  God  the  Father,  for  the  merits  only  of 
"  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  and  my  Lord  and  Saviour, 
"  who  offered  up  himself  unto  the  Father  a  truly 
"  expiatory  sacrifice  for  my  sins,  and  for  the  sins 
"  of  the  whole  world,  the  full  remission  of  all  my 
"  past  sins,  be  they  never  so  many  and  great.  But 
"  then  I  have  no  otherwise  any  confidence  of  my 
"  sins  being  forgiven  me,  or  of  my  being  in  a  state 
"  of  grace  and  salvation,  but  as  by  a  serious  examin- 
"  ation  of  my  conscience,  made  according  to  the 
"  rule  of  the  Gospel,  there  shall  be  evidence  of  the 
"  sincerity  of  my  faith  and  repentance.  And  I 
"  believe,  moreover,  that  while  I  bring  forth  fruits 
"  worthy  of  faith  and  repentance,  and  while  I  not 
"  only  abstain  from  those  crimes,  which,  according 
"  to  the  Gospel,  exclude  a  man  from  heaven,  but  do 
"  diligently  likewise  exercise  myself  in  good  works, 
"  both  those  of  piety  towards  God,  and  those  of 

y  Apolog.  pro  Harmonia,  Sect.  ii.  3. 


396  THE  LIFE  OF 

1710.  "  charity  towards  my  neighbour;  so  long  I  may  pre- 
~  "  serve  the  grace  that  is  given  me,  of  remission  and 
"  justification :  and  that  if  I  die  in  this  state,  I  am 
"  in  the  way  of  obtaining  by  it  the  mercy  of  God, 
"  and  eternal  life  and  salvation  for  the  sake  of  Jesus 
"  Christ.  I  believe  yet  that  I  may  fall  away ;  and 
"  after  having  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  may,  as  our 
"  church  speaketh,  depart  from  grace :  and  that 
"  therefore  I  ought  to  work  out  my  salvation  with 
"fear  and  trembling.  I  believe  also,  that  in  the 
"  Gospel  there  is  pardon  promised  to  all  that  fall, 
"  let  it  be  never  so  often,  so  that  they  do,  before 
"  their  death,  renew  their  repentance,  and  do  again 
"  their  first  works ;  but  then  there  is  not  any  where 
"  promised  to  them  either  space  of  life,  or  grace, 
"  that  they  may  repent.  I  believe  there  is  given 
"  to  some  persons  a  certain  extraordinary  grace, 
"  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  God ;  but  I  ac- 
"  count  it  the  greatest  madness,  for  any  one  there- 
"  fore  to  presume  upon  such  a  grace,  or  to  challenge 
"  ought  for  himself,  beyond  the  promises  of  God 
"  which  are  made  in  the  Gospel.  And  lastly,  it  is 
"  my  firm  belief,  that  throughout  the  whole  course 
"  of  my  salvation,  from  the  very  first  setting  out, 
"  to  the  end  thereof,  the  grace  and  assistance  of 
"  God's  Spirit  is  absolutely  necessary:  and  that  I 
"  never  have  done,  and  never  can  do,  any  spiritual 
"  good  without  Christ,  is  my  full  and  certain  per- 
"  suasion." 

This  is  the  confession  of  his  faith,  which  he  had 
made  about  four  and  thirty  years  before  to  all  the 
world,  and  to  which  he  now  adhered  at  his  death  ; 
even  as  to  those  very  articles  wherein  he  stood  most 
of  all  suspected  for  some  time,  and  for  the  explica- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  397 

tion  of  which  in  his  books  he  was  loudly  but  in-  1710. 
judiciously  censured  by  a  great  many,  as  hath  been 
before  observed,  for  approaching  too  near  Pelagianism 
and  Socinianism.  For  because  he  was  not  for  mak 
ing  the  grace  of  God  a  cloak  for  man's  idleness ; 
and  was  of  the  opinion,  that  none  ought  to  expect 
it,  but  they  that  pray  for  it,  and  none  could  reap 
the  fruit  of  it,  but  they  who  added  watching  to  it ; 
this  was  misconstrued  as  a  detracting  from  grace, 
and  a  depreciating  of  the  most  precious  blood  of 
Christ,  notwithstanding  all  his  remonstrances  to  the 
contrary.  In  pursuance,  therefore,  of  those  princi 
ples  he  had  so  well  defended  in  his  health,  and  in 
conformity  with  the  church's  directions,  this  close  of 
his  life,  and  last  most  solemn  act  of  it,  designed  to 
recapitulate  the  whole,  was  exactly  by  him  adjusted  : 
while  to  his  faith  he  added  thus  repentance,  and  to 
repentance  charity,  as  the  life  and  soul  of  them 
both  ;  and  casting  himself,  after  having  done  all, 
upon  the  infinite  mercies  of  God,  and  the  inestima 
ble  merits  of  Christ,  with  the  deepest  sense  of  his 
own  unworthiness,  thereby  expressed  the  true  and 
only  way  of  justification  which  he  had  chosen.  Of 
which  he  had  long  before  said,  zThis  is  the  way 
of  salvation,  which  by  God's  grace  I  have  entered 
into,  or  at  least  have  desired  to  enter  into,  which 
I  have  therefore  chosen,  because  it  is  clearly  set  forth 
to  me  in  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  is  a  trodden  and  a 
safe  way,  which  all  catholic  Christians,  for  fifteen 
hundred  years  at  least  from  our  Saviour's  birth,  have 
trodden  before  me:  and  which  was  now  ratified  by 
this  his  last  authentic  act  and  deed,  made  before 

z  Apol.  Sect.  ii.  3. 


398  THE  LIFE  OF 

1710.    many  witnesses.      For   having   now  solemnly   pro 


fessed  his  faith,  that  he  might  testify  to  them  his 
earnest  desire  of  dying  in  the  communion  of  the 
apostles ;  and  adored  the  most  wise  and  gracious 
providence  of  God  towards  him,  upon  a  faithful 
review  of  the  good  and  evil  of  his  life  past,  from 
his  first  setting  out,  to  the  last  period  of  it ;  he 
gave  glory  to  God  in  the  profound  humiliation  of 
his  soul,  and  by  suitable  acts  of  contrition,  adapted 
to  the  several  parts  of  his  life,  magnified  the  grace 
of  his  Redeemer,  calling  upon  him  by  faith  with 
great  fervency,  for  inward  purification  and  perfect 
remission  of  his  sins.  Which  devout  acts  and 
aspirations,  expressing  the  sincerity  of  his  faith  and 
repentance,  he  signified  in  the  style  of  all  the  saints, 
and  concluded  in  the  very  words  of  the  prophet 
David,  Who  can  tell  how  oft  he  ojfendeth  ?  0  cleanse 
thou  me  from  my  secret  faults. 
His  chanty,  After  this,  the  good  bishop  expressed  his  charity 

and  for 
giveness  of  in  all  the  branches  of  it,  as  far  as  he  was  then  able 

to  do  it ;  namely,  in  an  hearty  desire  of  forgiveness 
from  all  those  whom  he  had  offended  or  misused, 
and  in  a  cheerful  readiness  to  forgive  those  who  had 
done  him  any  hurt  or  injury.  As  to  the  other 
branch  of  charity,  that  of  giving,  he  had  done  it 
in  so  generous  and  plentiful  a  manner  all  his  life 
time,  that  he  did  not  express  any  great  concern, 
that  the  circumstances  of  his  family  were  now  such, 
as  would  not  admit  of  any  act  of  charity  of  this  kind  : 
this  he  concluded  likewise  with  suitable  prayers  and 
intercessions. 
Hisprofes-  jn  £ne  jast  place  ne  professed,  that  as  he  had 

sion  con 
cerning  the  always  lived,  so  he  was  now  resolved  to  die,  in  the 

England,    communion  of  the  Church  of  England ;  and  declared, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  399 

that  he  believed  that  it  was  the  best  constituted  1710. 
church  this  day  in  the  world ;  for  that  its  doctrine,  ~~ 
government,  and  way  of  worship,  were,  in  the  main, 
the  same  with  those  of  the  primitive  church.  Here 
he  put  up  some  prayers  for  its  peace  and  prosperity ; 
and  declaring  again,  that  he  was  resolved  to  die  in 
its  communion,  he  desired  absolution,  and  received 
it  as  before  mentioned.  And  it  is  no  wonder  that 
on  his  deathbed  the  good  bishop  professed  such  an 
high  esteem  for  the  Church  of  England,  since  in  the 
time  of  his  health  and  greatest  vigour  he  was  used 
to  express  his  zealous  concern  for  her  after  the  fol 
lowing  manner :  "  I  would  not  be  so  presumptuous 
"  as  to  say  positively,  that  I  am  able  to  bear  so  great 
"  a  trial ;  but  according  to  my  sincere  thoughts  of 
"  myself,  I  could,  through  God's  assistance,  lay  down 
"  my  life,  upon  condition  that  all  those  who  dissent 
"  from  the  Church  of  England  were  united  in  her 
"  communion." 

LXXX.    The   evening   before   he   departed,   hisTheman- 

i  -««-  11  n          i  i     c  ner  °f  h's 

son-in-law,  Mr.  Archdeacon  Stephens2,  arrived  irom  taking 
a  great  journey,  upon  the  news  he  received  of  h 
dangerous  illness.     The  bishop  embraced  him  with 
great  satisfaction,  when  he  raised  himself  up  in  his 

z  [Rev.  Joseph  Stephens,  archdeacon  of  Brecon,  and  vicar  of 
Clyro  in  Radnorshire.  He  was  also  rector  of  Suddington,  where 
he  died  in  1735,  and  on  his  monument  there  we  read — Hoc 
unicum  illius  memorise  tradi  sufficiat,  quod  doctissimo  Prsesuli 
Geo.  Bullo  et  Patrono  ejus  munificentissimo  charus  fuit,  negotiis- 
que  maximi  momenti  conjunctissimus.  He  married  Anne  the  eldest 
of  the  bishop's  daughters,  who  died  in  1703,  aged  41,  and  her 
epitaph  in  the  church  of  Suddington  St.  Mary  speaks  of  her  as 
Mulieris  patre  suo  dignse,  utpote  eximia  pietate  gratiisque  omnibus 
quse  sexum  ornant  ornatissimae.] 


400       ,  THE  LIFE  OF 

1710.  bed  to  give  him  his  blessing.  When  Mr.  Stephens 
expressed  his  great  sorrow  and  concern,  to  find  him 
in  so  great  misery  by  the  complaints  he  made,  he 
told  him,  "  he  had  endured  a  great  deal,  that  he  did 
"  not  think  he  had  so  much  strength  of  nature,  but 
"  that  now  it  was  near  being  spent,  and  that  in 
"  God's  good  time  he  should  be  delivered."  And 
when  Mr.  Stephens,  in  order  to  support  him,  urged 
that  his  reward  would  be  great  in  heaven,  the  good 
bishop  replied,  "  My  trust  is  in  God,  through  the 
"  merits  of  Christ."  And  being  prevented  from  en 
larging,  by  the  exquisiteness  of  his  pains,  he  desired 
Mr.  Stephens  to  retire,  and  refresh  himself  after  his 
journey.  Some  little  time  after  this,  he  told  those 
that  were  about  him,  that  he  perceived  he  had  some 
symptoms  of  the  near  approach  of  death  ;  and  or 
dered  them  to  call  the  doctor  to  him.  And  when 
he  came,  he  told  him  he  thought  he  felt  himself  a 
dying  ;  to  which  the  doctor  answered,  that  he  could 
not  say  he  would  live  many  hours.  Upon  this,  he 
sent  for  his  wife  and  children,  and  the  rest  of  his 
family,  and  desired  them  to  pray  with  him  and  for 
him.  And  when  prayers  were  over,  he  took  his 
solemn  leave  of  every  one  in  particular  ;  giving  each 
of  them  some  serious  exhortation  and  advice.  And 
this  being  done,  he  gave  them  his  benediction,  and 
dismissed  them. 

His  care         He  was  moreover  very  careful,  that  none  might 
tk>nforC~    do  themselves  an  injury  by  their  zealous  attendance 


uPon  him>  while  they  were  not  capable  of  doing  him 
upon  him.  anv  farther  good.  Wherefore  he  charged  his  wife, 
as  he  did  also  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Stephens,  to  retire 
to  their  rest  :  and  when  the  doctor  offered  to  conti 
nue  with  him  in  his  last  hours,  after  their  dismission, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  401 

he  told  him,  "  He  would  not  have  him  impair  his  1710. 
"  health  by  sitting  up  with  him ;  since  he  could  not 
"  be  farther  serviceable  to  him  any  other  way,  than 
"  by  praying  for  him,  and  that  he  might  do  in  his 
"  chamber."  Nevertheless,  he  desired  his  son  and 
daughter,  and  Mr.  Havard  his  chaplain,  with  some 
others  of  the  family,  who  were  not  in  such  danger  of 
being  hurt  by  it,  to  stay  with  him  till  he  died ;  that 
they  might  assist  him  with  their  prayers,  especially 
in  his  last  agonies,  when  he  should  not  be  able  to 
pray  for  himself.  He  thought  now,  and  so  indeed  did 
all  about  him,  that  he  could  not  last  above  an  hour  or 
two  longer  ;  and  that,  by  the  great  weakness  he  was 
reduced  to  when  his  last  sickness  left  him,  and  the 
pain  he  had  endured  since  the  beginning  of  his  pre 
sent  distemper,  the  whole  fabric,  in  a  person  of  his 
age,  was  now  so  shattered,  that  the  separation  of  the 
soul  from  the  body  could  not  be  tedious  or  uneasy. 
But,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  he  held  it  out 
many  hours  under  his  last  agonies. 

He   had  his  understanding  and   memory   to   the  What  was 

observed  of 

last,  and  that  in  as  great  strength  and  vigour  as  ever  him  in  the 
he  had  them  in  the  remembrance  of  those  that  per-  ° 
fectly  knew  him.  As  an  instance  of  which,  the 
reader  may  take  this  remarkable  passage.  The  night 
but  one  before  he  died,  he  sent  for  his  son,  Mr.  Ro 
bert  Bull,  and  after  having  given  him  his  leave  and 
order  to  publish  his  sermons,  which  are  now  printed, 
he  commanded  him  to  strike  out  the  preface  of  his 
Visitation  Sermon,  which  he  said  was  too  juvenile, 
and  to  make  two  or  three  alterations  in  another  of 
his  sermons,  which  alterations  were  taken  from  his 
mouth,  and  since  performed.  But  what  was  sur 
prising  in  this  matter,  was,  that  he  had  delivered 

Dd 


THE  LIFE  OF 

1710.  these  sermons  to  his  son,  at  least  six  years  before, 
~~  and  they  were  never  so  much  as  seen  by  his  lordship 
afterwards.  During  the  time  of  his  last  conflict,  he 
scarce  troubled  himself,  or  those  that  waited  upon 
him,  with  taking  any  thing.  But  he  passed  it  all 
entirely  in  acts  of  piety  and  devotion.  Sometime 
he  joined  with  those  that  were  present  in  the  prayers 
of  the  office  of  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick ;  the  latter 
part  whereof  was,  by  his  direction,  frequently  re 
peated  in  this  interval ;  but  the  greatest  part  of  it 
he  spent  in  pious  meditations  and  private  ejacu 
lations  ;  upon  what  subjects  can  be  no  farther  guessed 
at,  than  by  observing  his  eyes  and  hands  frequently 
lifted  up  towards  heaven,  and  sometimes  tears  and 
smiles,  interchangeably  succeeding  each  other  in  his 
countenance,  one  might  think,  that  as  the  former 
were  the  attendants  of  his  repentance  and  confes 
sions,  so  the  latter  were  the  result  of  that  joy  and 
comfort  which  he  felt  in  his  mind,  from  the  sense  of 
the  pardon  of  his  sins,  and  of  the  peace  and  favour 
of  a  reconciled  God  ;  which  might  also  receive  no 
small  addition  at  this  juncture,  from  the  near  pro 
spect  he  had  of  his  deliverance  from  this  mortal  and 
painful  life,  and  of  his  entrance  into  a  state  of 
everlasting  happiness. 

His  repeat.      When  he  found  that  he  continued  thus  to  live  se 
ed  farewell 

and  dying  veral  hours  longer  than  he  expected,  he  sent  again 
tions  to  his  for  his  wife  and  children  to  his  bed-side,  to  take  his 
leave  once  more  of  them,  and  of  the  rest  of  the  fa 
mily  that  were  up ;  and  they  say,  he  was  even  fuller 
now  in  his  exhortations  to  them  than  before,  and 
they  were  mighty  well  suited,  and  particularly  applied, 
to  the  circumstances  and  conditions  of  the  several 
persons  to  whom  they  were  given.  He  recommended 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL,  403 

his  wife  and  children  to  the  divine  providence  and     17 10- 


protection  in  so  moving  and  affectionate  a  manner, 
as  is  difficult  to  express:  and  he  thanked  all  his 
servants  for  the  pains  they  had  taken  with  him  in 
his  sickness  :  and  as  for  the  rest,  his  exhortations 
ran  chiefly  upon  general  heads,  such  as  the  great 
importance  of  religion,  the  vanity  of  the  world,  the 
deceitful  nature  of  riches  and  honours,  and  what 
miserable  comforters  they  would  prove  at  last ;  the 
inefficacy,  or  at  least  the  great  hazard  and  uncom 
fortable  state  of  a  deathbed  repentance,  and  the  ab 
solute  necessity  of  a  holy  life  in  order  to  a  happy 
death ;  a  life  spent  in  the  service  of  God,  in  doing1 
good  in  the  world,  especially  works  of  mercy  and 
charity.  These  are  the  subjects  which  he  endea 
voured  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  those  he  left 
behind  him  ;  and  then  once  more  he  gave  them  his 
solemn  benediction.  After  this,  he  recommended 
his  soul  into  the  hands  of  his  Creator,  in  several 
short  but  most  excellent  prayers,  and  repeated  most 
part  of  the  seventy-first  Psalm,  so  far  as  it  suited  his 
circumstances,  than  which  nothing  could  be  more 
proper,  to  express  his  trust  and  dependence  upon 
the  power  and  goodness  of  God,  and  the  continual 
want  he  had  of  his  grace  and  assistance  ;  moreover, 
he  ordered  his  chaplain  to  use  the  commendatory 
prayer,  when  he  perceived  him  to  be  at  the  point 
of  expiring,  which  was  accordingly  done  several 
times. 

About  nine  in  the  morning  his  spirits  began  to  His  death, 
sink,   and  his  speech  to  falter,  and  a  few  minutes 
after,  without  any  visible  sign  of  pain  or  difficulty, 
with  two  gentle  sighs,  he  resigned  his  soul  to  God, 

D  d  2 


404  THE  LIFE  OF 

171°-    the   17th  of  February,  17-^  a.     The   last   word  he 
spoken   was  Amen,  to   the   commendatory   prayer, 
which  he  repeated  twice  distinctly  and  audibly  after 
his  usual  manner,  a  very  little  while  before  he  died. 
He  was  buried  about  a  week  after  his  death  at 


Brecknock.  Brecknock,  and  liesb,  as  I  am  informed,  between  two 
of  his  predecessors,  bishop  Manwaring  and  bishop 
Lucy,  and  his  funeral  was  attended  with  great  num 
bers  of  the  gentry  and  clergy,  both  of  the  county  of 
Caermarthen  and  Brecknock.  He  had  given  strict 
charge,  that  the  burden  of  his  debts  should  not  be 
increased  by  bestowing  more  expense  upon  his  in 
terment  than  what  necessity  and  decency  required. 
And  upon  this  account  it  is  thought,  that  when  he 
was  asked  where  he  would  be  buried,  whether  at 
Caermarthen  or  Brecknock,  he  returned  this  answer, 
Where  the  tree  falleth,  there  let  it  lie  ;  meaning, 
that  they  should  bury  him  in  the  parish  church  of 
Lhandovery  ;  and  what  still  farther  inclined  him  to 
this  determination,  was  the  extraordinary  value  and 
respect  which  the  bishop  expressed  to  the  memory 
of  Mr.  Rees  Prichard,  formerly  vicar  of  that  place, 
interred  there,  upon  the  account  of  his  great  and 

a  [According  to  Browne  Willis  he  died  at  Abermarless  ;  (see 
beginning  of  §.  LXXVII.)  but  Jones,  the  historian  of  Brecknock 
shire,  informs  us,  on  the  authority  of  an  old  lady  who  lived  in 
Brecknock,  that  in  consequence  of  some  casual  repairs  at  his  house 
at  the  college,  he  resided  for  a  short  time  before  his  death  at  the 
house  of  the  historian's  father,  in  the  Lion-lane  in  Brecknock, 
and  that  he  died  there.  This  lady  described  him  as  a  venerable 
old  man  with  silvery  white  hair,  and  recollected  receiving  from 
him  his  blessing  not  many  days  before  his  death  within  this 
house.] 

t>  [Within  the  communion  rails.  JonesJ] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  405 

celebrated  piety,  and  the  usefulness  of  his  excellent 
poems  in  the  Welsh  tongue  ;  which  are  in  very  great 
repute  among  the  inhabitants  of  that  country,  as  well 
for  the  plainness  of  the  language,  and  the  easiness 
and  smoothness  of  the  measures,  as  for  the  import 
ance  of  the  subjects  upon  which  he  wrote ;  the 
whole  book  being  in  a  manner  an  entire  body  of 
practical  divinity,  in  which  several  of  the  natives, 
even  those  that  are  illiterate,  are  so  well  versed, 
that  they  will  very  pertinently  quote  authorities  out 
of  this  book  for  their  faith  and  practice.  But  the 
bishop  was  prevailed  upon  by  the  desire  of  his  wife 
to  consent  to  be  buried  at  Brecknock,  it  being  the 
place  where  she  designed  to  pass  her  sorrowful  wi 
dowhood,  and  consequently  thereby  should  have  an 
assurance  of  lying  in  the  same  grave  with  him ;  and 
the  matter  was  so  ordered,  that  in  making  the  bi 
shop's  grave  she  gave  directions  to  have  it  done  up 
with  walls  every  way,  and  so  large  as  to  contain 
two  corpses.  And  it  hath  pleased  God  very  lately, 
since  I  begun  the  Life  of  her  excellent  husband,  to 
call  her  to  restc,  and  she  is  now  reposed  with  this 
pious  prelate  in  that  silent  retirement  she  had  pro 
vided  for  herself,  till  the  last  trump  shall  summon 
them  both  to  judgment;  d And  the  Lord  grant 
unto  them  that  they  may  find  mercy  of  the  Lord 
in  that  day.  His  grave  is  covered  with  a  plain 
stone,  and  the  short  inscription  upon  it  which  fol 
lows  was  framed  and  ordered  by  his  pious  widow, 
who  was  so  satisfied  with  it  herself,  that  she  would 
not  suffer  it  to  be  cast  into  any  other  form. 


c   [She  died  l6th  November,  1712,  aged  75.] 
''   2  Tim.  i.  1 8. 


406  THE  LIFE  OF 

1710.  HERE  LIETH 

THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  FATHER  IN  GOD, 

DR.  GEORGE  BULL, 

LATE  BISHOP  OF  THIS  DIOCESE; 

WHO  WAS  EXCELLENTLY  LEARNED, 

PIOUS,  AND  CHARITABLE; 
AND  WHO  DEPARTED  THIS  LIFE 

FEBRUARY  THE  17th,  1709, 
AGED  75  e, 

"  [This  inscription  is  within  the  communion  rails ;  on  the 
north  wall  is  a  monument  erected  by  his  son-in-law  archdeacon 
Stephens,  containing  a  much  longer  epitaph ,  which  was  probably 
written  by  him.  It  seems  not  to  have  been  put  up  till  after  1715, 
in  which  year  Browne  Willis  surveyed  this  church,  and  copied  the 
English  inscription,  but  makes  no  mention  of  the  other.  It  is  as 
follows  :  — 

M.  S. 

Reverendi  admodum  Georgii  Bull,  cujus  mgnuam  nomen  nulla 
capit  tabula,  nulla  delebit  setas.  Qualis  fidei  Sanctis  olim  traditse 
ab  impiis  Socinistarum  ac  Solfidianorum  dogmatibus  vindex  exti- 
terit,  quam  indefessus  veterum  primsevse  Ecclesise  patrum  lector, 
quamque  felix  et  moribus  et  scriptis  imitator  fuerit,  soli  norunt 
Eruditissimi :  publicam  erga  omnes  pariter  homines  munificen- 
tiam  expert!  sunt  quotquot  erant  egeni :  privatam  erga  Deum  pie- 
tatem  unus  novit  pios  qui  remunerat  Deus.  Natus  erat  civitate 
Wellensi  et  stirpe  generosa,  a  prima  etiam  infantia  sacerdotio 
designatus,  quod  iniquissimis  temporibus  et  afflictissimo  Ecclesise 
statu,  nernpe  circiter  annum  i656um,  ab  Episcopo  Oxoniensi  sus- 
cepit.  Restituta  deinceps  Ecclesia  scribendo  potentissimos  sibi 
conflavit  inimicos,  cum  quibus  aliquandiu  luctatus  denuo  emersit, 
factus  primum  canonicus  Glocestrensis  et  deinde  A.  D.  Landa- 
vensis,  A.  D.  1686°.  Doctoris  gradum  ab  inclyta  Oxoniensi  Aca- 
demia  ultro  oblatum  pro  incomparabili  Nicenae  Fidei  Defensione 
aliisque  scriptig  nervosis  necessariis  accepit :  Gratiasque  haud 
multo  post  pro  Judicio  Ecclesiae  Catholicse  ab  Episcopo  Meldensi 
nomine  totius  Galliae  Cleri  ad  celeberrimum  Nelsonum  Armigerum 
primo  discipulum  semper  amicum  transmissas.  Tandem  studiis 
senioque  pcene  confectus  a  serenissima  Regina  Anna  ad  Episco- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  407 

He  left  behind  him  but  two  of  those  eleven  chil-  1710. 
dren  with  which  God  had  been  pleased  to  bless  him. 
His  son  Robert,  at  present  rector  of  Tortworth  in 
Gloucestershire,  and  prebendary  of  the  cathedral 
church  in  the  same  county f,  married  Rachel,  the 
daughter  of  Edward  Stephens,  of  Cherington  in  the 
county  of  Gloucester,  esq.  and  of  Mary,  the  daugh 
ter  of  sir  Matthew  Hale,  late  lord  chief  justice  of  the 
king's  bench  e.  His  daughter  Bridget,  since  his 
death,  married  to  Mr.  Edward  Adderley,  son  to  the 
aforesaid  Mary  by  a  former  husband11, 

palem  Menevensis  sedem  evectus  est,  quam  cum  ornaverat  qua- 
tuor  annos  et  quod  excurrit,  ad  Ecclesiam  Sanctorum  in  coelo  tri- 
umphantium  translatus  est,  mensis  Februarii  17™°  A.  D.  1709, 
setatis  75*°,  consecrationis  5to. 

Hie  quoque  sepulta  est  Brigida  uxor,  mulier  tarn  praeclaro  con- 
juge  neutiquam  indigna,  stirpe  sacerdotali  orta,  filia  scil.  Alexan. 
dri  Gregory,  A.  M.  Corinii  in  agro  Glocestrensi  olim  per  multo? 
annos  pastoris  vigilantissimi.  In  memoriam  utriusque  suseque  gra- 
titudinis  monumentum  hoc  pie  erexit  Josephus  Stephens,  A.  M. 
A.  D.  de  Brecon  eorum  gener,  virtutum  testis  ac  cultor  (triginta 
amplius  annos)  observantissimus.  Ob.  i6toNov.  A.D.  1712.  Jones.~\ 

{  [He  was  also  chancellor  of  Christ's  college  in  Brecon,  to  which 
the  prebend  of  Llanbister  was  attached  :  he  held  it  from  1706  to 
about  1730.  Jones.] 

g  [Their  children  were  Edward  Bull,  of  Tortworth,  gent.,  (who 
left  one  daughter,  Mary,)  and  Rachel  who  died  unmarried.  Jones.] 

11  [It  has  been  mentioned  at  p.  399,  that  the  bishop's  eldest 
daughter  Anne  married  archdeacon  Stephens.  One  of  their  daugh 
ters  married  Joshua  Wharton  of  Bristol ;  another  married  John 
Williams,  vicar  of  Glazbury  ;  and  a  third  daughter  married  Wal 
ter  Chapman,  of  Dunsborne  in  the  county  of  Gloucester;  whose 
grandson  Joseph  Chapman  was  president  of  Trinity  college,  Ox 
ford,  from  1776  to  1808;  and  his  great  grandson  Mr.  Joseph 
Parker  is  at  present  a  most  respectable  bookseller  in  Oxford. 
Jones  is  inclined  to  think  that  one  of  the  bishop's  younger  sons, 


408  THE  LIFE  OF 

Bishop  And  now  that  we  have  attended  this  very  learned 

and  Pious  prelate  from  his  birth  to  the  last  period  of 
his  life,  let  us  endeavour  in  a  few  words  to  recapi 
tulate  the  dispersed  excellencies  of  his  life;  and  in 
running  over  his  character,  strive  to  copy  the  ex 
ample  of  those  eminent  virtues,  which  in  this  pat 
tern  shine  brightest  for  our  imitation. 

As  to  his  stature,  he  was  rather  tall ;  and  in  his 
younger  years  thin  and  pale,  but  fuller  and  more 
sanguine  in  the  middle  and  latter  part  of  his  age ; 
his  sight  quick  and  strong,  and  his  constitution  firm 
and  vigorous,  till  indefatigable  reading  and  night 
studies,  to  which  he  was  very  much  addicted,  had 
first  impaired,  and  at  length  quite  extinguished  the 
one,  and  subjected  the  other  to  many  infirmities; 
for  his  sight  failed  him  entirely,  and  his  strength 
to  a  great  degree,  some  years  before  he  died :  but 
whatever  other  bodily  indispositions  he  contracted 
by  intense  thinking  and  a  sedentary  life,  his  head 
was  always  free,  and  remained  unaffected  to  the  last. 
He  seemed  framed  by  nature  for  considerable  at 
tainments,  having  all  those  faculties  and  dispositions 
of  mind  \diich  are  necessary  thereunto,  in  as  great 
perfection  as  most  men  ever  enjoyed  them.  And 
that  these  rich  endowments  were  not  bestowed  upon 
him  in  vain,  his  learned  writings  have  demonstrated 
to  all  the  world.  In  reading  of  books,  his  sagacity 
was  such  as  that  nothing  could  escape  his  observa 
tion  ;  and  as  his  reading  was  great,  so  his  memory 
was  equally  retentive ;  he  never  kept  any  book  of 
references  or  commonplaces,  neither  did  he  ever 

who  was  not  in  orders,  settled  at  Kington,  or  the  neighbourhood, 
from  whom  the  Bulls  of  Durfield  were  descended.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  409 

need  any  :  together  with  this  happy  faculty,  he  was 
blessed  with  another  that  seldom  accompanieth  it  in 
the  same  person,  and  that  was  an  accurate  and  sound 
judgment. 

As  to  the  temperature  and  complexion  of  his  body, 
that  of  melancholy  seemed  to  prevail,  but  never  so 
far  as  to  indispose  his  mind  for  study  and  conversa 
tion  ;  in  the  latter  of  which  he  would  be  always 
more  cheerful  and  pleasant,  when  the  former  had 
succeeded  to  his  content.  The  vivacity  of  his  natu 
ral  temper  exposed  him  to  sharp  and  sudden  fits  of 
anger,  which  gave  him  no  less  uneasiness  than  they 
did  to  those  persons  who  were  concerned  in  the 
nearest  offices  about  him  ;  but  those  fits  were  of 
such  short  continuance,  that  the  trouble  was  soon 
over,  and  the  goodness  and  tenderness  of  his  nature 
towards  all  his  domestics,  at  other  time  sand  upon 
all  occasions,  made  sufficient  amends  to  them  for  it ; 
besides,  his  natural  passion  was  so  far  subdued  by 
the  power  of  religion,  as  that  an  evil  word  was  never 
heard  to  proceed  from  him,  even  when  he  seemed 
to  be  most  transported  with  it.  He  had  a  firmness 
and  constancy  of  mind,  which  made  him  not  easily 
moved,  when  he  had  once  fixed  his  purposes  and 
resolutions,  which  is  no  bad  temper,  when  attended 
with  such  a  true  judgment  as  he  was  master  of;  but 
rather  a  virtue  of  nature,  which  many  learned  and 
good  men  have  been  defective  in.  His  natural  cou 
rage  was  a  happy  disposition  for  that  supernatural 
grace  of  true  Christian  fortitude  and  magnanimity, 
in  which  he  was  very  eminent,  so  that  the  frowns 
of  great  men  in  power  could  no  more  awe  him,  than 
popular  clamours  could  shake  his  steadfastness. 
He  had  early  a  true  sense  of  religion  upon  his 


410  THE  LIFE  OF 

mind ;  and  though  he  made  a  short  excursion  into 
the  paths  of  vanity',  yet  he  was  entirely  recovered  a 
considerable  time  before  he  entered  into  holy  orders, 
and  yet  he  was  ordained  priest  at  one  and  twenty. 
He  was  a  very  hard  student  for  many  years;  and 
though  he  was  not  unacquainted  with  most  parts  of 
learning,  yet  he  chiefly  cultivated  divinity,  to  which 
he  had  solemnly  dedicated  his  studies.  He  so  ex 
celled  in  his  profession,  that  he  was  justly  esteemed 
one  of  the  greatest  divines  of  the  age  in  which  he 
lived,  and  that  at  a  time  when  it  abounded  with 
great  men.  He  officiated  with  great  reverence  and 
devotion  in  all  the  duties  of  his  holy  function.  And 
when  he  instructed  the  people  from  the  pulpit,  he 
enlightened  their  understandings,  and  raised  their 
affections  towards  heavenly  things.  He  had  a  great 
love  for  souls,  and  a  tender  compassion  for  sinners, 
which  made  him  never  despair  of  their  recovery,  nor 
neglect  such  endearing  applications  as  might  bring 
them  to  repentance. 

Amidst  all  those  extraordinary  talents  with  which 
God  had  blessed  him,  it  never  appeared  that  he  over 
valued  himself  or  despised  others.  For  though  his 
natural  endowments  were  of  no  ordinary  size,  and 
were  wonderfully  improved  by  study  and  application, 
yet  his  great  learning  was  tempered  with  that  mo 
dest  and  humble  opinion  of  it,  that  it  thereby  shined 
with  greater  lustre.  He  abounded  in  works  of  cha- 

1  [He  perhaps  was  thinking  of  himself,  when  he  said,  "  Most 
"  of  us  have  sinned,  or  trifled  away  the  best  and  greatest  part  of 
"  our  life,  before  we  had  well  learned  the  art  of  living  well ;  and 
"  in  that  part  of  our  lives  committed  such  sins,  as  all  our  after- 
"  piety,  were  it  far  greater  than  it  is.  can  never  of  itself  sufficiently 
"  expiate."  Sermon  IX.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  411 

rity  even  beyond  his  ability ;  and  wherever  he  met 
with  misery  and  want,  they  sufficiently  endeared  the 
object.  The  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  his  neigh 
bour  were  always  uppermost  in  his  thoughts.  His 
actions  were  no  less  instructive  than  his  conversa 
tion  ;  for  his  exact  knowledge  of  the  holy  Scriptures, 
and  of  the  writings  of  the  primitive  Fathers  of  the 
Church,  had  so  effectual  an  influence  upon  his  prac 
tice,  that  it  was  indeed  a  fair,  and  entire,  and  beau 
tiful  image  of  the  prudence  and  probity,  simplicity 
and  benignity,  humility  and  charity,  purity  and  piety 
of  the  primitive  Christians.  During  his  sickness,  his 
admirable  patience  under  exquisite  pains,  and  his 
continual  prayers,  made  it  evident  that  his  mind  was 
much  fuller  of  God  than  of  his  illness ;  and  he  en 
tertained  those  that  attended  him  with  such  beauti 
ful  and  lively  descriptions  of  religion  and  another 
world,  as  if  he  had  a  much  clearer  view  than  ordi 
nary  of  what  he  believed.  In  short,  He  lived  the 
life  of  the  righteous,  and  his  latter  end  was  like 
his. 

LXXXI.  All  that  farther  remaineth  is  to  lay  be- An  account 
fore  the  reader  some  account  of  the  sermons  and  dis-guj£.  °er_ 
courses  of  bishop  Bull,  which  are  now  printed  and  ^scmir"^ 
published ;  in  which  I  shall  endeavour  to  be  the 
shorter,  because  their  worth  will  appear  very  obvious 
to  those  who  are  the  best  judges ;  and  the  Life  is 
already  run  out  to  so  great  a  length,  that  it  is  very 
necessary  to  draw  to  a  conclusion.     As  to  the  ser 
mons,  his  son,  Mr.  Robert  Bull,  as  hath  been  already 
hinted,  had  not  only  the  bishop's  leave,  but  his  order 
to  print  them  after  his  death ;  so  that  we  may  from 
thence  conclude  they  had  his  last  hand,  and  conse- 


THE  LIFE  OF 

quently  that  perfection  which  belonged  to  his  com 
posures.  The  subjects  are  reduced  to  no  dependence 
upon  one  another,  in  the  method  of  ranging  them  ; 
neither  was  it  necessary,  since  it  did  not  appear  that 
they  were  framed  with  any  such  prospect.  But  the 
reader  will  quickly  perceive,  that  they  answer  the 
proper  end  and  design  which  ought  to  be  kept  in 
view  in  all  such  performances,  which  is  to  enlighten 
the  understanding  with  the  knowledge  of  some  di 
vine  truth,  and  to  dispose  the  will  to  a  vigorous  and 
steady  pursuit  of  those  things,  which  are  necessary 
on  our  part  to  attain  everlasting  salvation. 
The  fim  There  are  some  points  handled  in  this  collection, 
which,  at  first  sight,  and  from  a  superficial  view, 
mav  ^e  thought  to  border  too  much  upon  curiosity; 


primitive     j^  jf  ^jie  rea(jer  brings  that  attention  and  'serious- 

truths. 

ness  which  such  subjects  require  from  us,  he  will 
find  that  these  are  primitive  truths,  which  have 
their  proper  use  and  advantage  in  the  conduct  of  the 
Christian  life. 

The  middle  As  for  instance  ;  he  hath  not  only  asserted,  but 
happiness  plainly  proved  from  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  the  con- 
and  miser.v-  current  testimony  of  the  catholic  church  in  the 
purest  ages,  "  That  the  souls  of  men  subsist  after 
"  death,  in  certain  places  of  abode  provided  for  them 
"  till  the  resurrection  of  their  bodies  ;  and  that  the 
"  said  intermediate  state  allotted  to  them  by  God  is 
"•  either  happy  or  miserable,  as  they  have  been  good 
"  or  bad  in  their  past  livesk."  Now  as  this  is  matter 
of  great  terror  to  all  wicked  men,  who  shall  imme 
diately  after  death  be  consigned  to  a  place  and  state 
of  irreversible  misery,  in  a  dreadful  expectation  of 

k  [Sermons  II.  and  III.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  413 

greater  punishments  at  the  judgment  of  the  great 
day;  so  it  affordeth  abundance  of  consolation  to 
those  who  die  in  the  Lord,  and  are  entered  upon 
their  rest;  not  a  stupid,  insensible  rest,  but  a  rest 
attended  with  a  lively  perception  of  far  greater 
joy  and  delight  than  this  world  is  acquainted  with ; 
in  a  comfortable  hope  of  a  large  increase  of  happi 
ness  at  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord  of  glory. 
But  if  there  was  no  other  use  to  be  made  of  this 
doctrine,  but  to  guard  us  from  the  corruptions  of 
popery,  I  should  think  it  established  to  very  good 
purpose.  And  certainly  it  appeareth  very  manifest, 
that  if  it  was  a  part  of  the  primitive  faith  to  believe, 
that  the  souls  of  the  best  of  men  subsisted  after 
death  in  separate  places  of  rest  and  refreshment, 
and  did  not  enjoy  the  beatific  vision  till  after  the 
resurrection  of  their  bodies ;  I  say,  it  is  evident  from 
this  principle,  that  the  foundation  for  the  invocation 
of  saints  is  perfectly  overthrown  ;  for  they  are  repre 
sented  to  us  by  our  adversaries,  of  the  Roman  com 
munion,  as  seeing  all  things  in  specula  Trinitatis ; 
and  we  are  encouraged  by  them  from  that  motive  to 
offer  up  our  prayers,  and  to  make  our  addresses  to 
the  saints ;  so  that  if  they  are  not  admitted  as  yet  to 
read  in  the  glass  of  the  Trinity,  they  have,  according 
to  this  principle,  no  way  of  knowing  those  prayers 
which  are  made  to  them. 

Again,  if  it  be  true  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous, 
being  purified  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  do  after 
death  subsist  in  certain  mansions  of  happiness  till 
the  resurrection ;  then  what  foundation  can  there  be 
for  any  such  fire  of  purgatory  as  is  pretended,  for 
the  purgation  of  the  spirits  of  the  faithful,  by  the 
church  of  Rome  ?  Or  what  grounds  can  there  be  for 


414  THE  LIFE  OF 

that  furnace,  which  she  hath  heated  as  necessary  to 
purify  almost  all  that  go  out  of  this  life,  though  with 
the  sign  of  faith  ;  for  a  purgatory,  the  pains  whereof 
are  by  many  of  her  divines  represented  to  us  as 
equal  to  those  of  hell,  their  duration  only  excepted  ? 
or  for  such  prayers  for  departed  souls,  as  tend  to 
supplicate  their  deliverance  from  a  place  of  grievous 
torment?  those  of  the  ancient  church  being  only 
for  such  who  were  at  peace,  and  who  rest  in 
Christ;  but  they  who  are  exposed  to  the  pains  of 
purgatory  cannot  certainly  be  said  to  enjoy  those 
advantages. 
The  doc-  This  learned  divine  had,  in  his  answer  to  the 

trine  of 

the  CM-  bishop  of  Meaux's  queries,  asserted  the  doctrine  of 
sacrifice,  the  eucharistico.1  sacrifice ;  that  it  was  an  oblation  of 
bread  and  wine  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ,  to  repre 
sent  and  commemorate  his  sacrifice  upon  the  cross ; 
and  that  its  being  representative  and  commemo 
rative  no  more  hindered  it  from  being  a  proper 
sacrifice,  than  the  typical  and  figurative  sacrifices  of 
the  old  law  hindered  them  from  being  proper  sacri 
fices  ;  for  as  to  be  a  type  doth  not  destroy  the  nature 
and  notion  of  a  legal  sacrifice,  so  to  be  representative 
and  commemorative  doth  not  destroy  the  nature  of 
an  evangelical  sacrifice.  He  thought  this  doctrine 
plain  from  Scripture,  and  from  the  unanimous  and 
universal  tradition  of  the  primitive  church ;  nay, 
that  it  was  not  only  her  language,  but  her  avowed 
and  general  practice,  to  offer  up  the  bread  and  wine 
to  God  the  Father  in  the  Eucharist,  as  an  oblation 
appointed  by  our  Saviour  Christ,  to  commemorate 
the  oblation  of  himself  upon  the  cross,  and  as  repre 
sentative  of  that  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  415 

Now  in  his  sermon  concerning  the  antiquity  and 
usefulness,  &c.  of  common  prayers1,  he  observeth 
the  wonderful  consent  of  all  the  Christian  churches 
in  the  world,  however  distant  from  each  other,  in 
the  prayer  of  oblation  in  the  Christian  sacrifice  of 
the  holy  Eucharist.  He  assureth  us,  all  the  ancient 
Liturgies  agree  in  this  form  of  prayer,  almost  in  the 
same  words,  but  fully  and  exactly  in  the  same  sense, 
order,  and  method.  "  Which,"  saith  he,  "  whoever 
"  attentively  considereth,  must  be  convinced,  that 
"  this  order  of  prayer  was  delivered  to  the  several 
"  churches,  in  the  very  first  plantation  and  settle- 
"  ment  of  them.  Nay,  it  is  observable,  that  this 
"  form  of  prayer  is  still  retained  in  the  very  canon 
"  of  the  mass  at  this  day  used  in  the  church  of 
"  Rome,  though  the  form  doth  manifestly  contradict 
"  and  overthrow  some  of  the  principal  articles  of 
"  their  new  faith.  For  from  this  very  form,  still 
"  extant  in  their  canon,  a  man  may  effectually  refute 
"  those  two  main  doctrines  of  their  church,  that  of 
"  purgatory,  and  that  of  transubstantiation."  The 
antiquity  of  this  prayer  of  oblation  is  a  very  good 
argument,  among  many  others,  that  the  doctrine  of 
the  Christian  sacrifice  was  taught  to  the  several 
Christian  churches  in  their  first  plantation,  and  con 
sequently  was  in  that  scheme  of  Christian  doctrines 
once  delivered  to  the  saints.  Now  as  this  notion  of 
the  Eucharist  is  founded  upon  Scripture,  and  runneth 
through  all  the  great  writers  of  the  first  three  ages ; 
as  it  is  highly  honourable  to  God,  and  no  less  com 
fortable  to  all  devout  Christians;  so  it  hath  this 
advantage,  that  it  secureth  us  a  bulwark  against 

1  [Sermon  XIII.] 


416  THE  LIFE  OF 

those  innovations  of  the  Church  of  Rome  which 
relate  to  this  primitive  doctrine.  The  popish  sacri 
fice  of  the  mass  supposeth  the  oblation  of  the  same 
body  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  which 
suffered  upon  the  cross,  and  consequently,  that  it 
propitiateth  by  its  own  virtue  and  merit ;  whereas 
according  to  the  primitive  doctrine,  though  the 
Eucharist  be  a  proper  sacrifice,  yet  it  is  only  repre 
sentative  and  commemorative  of  that  sacrifice  upon 
the  cross ;  and  it  renders  God  Almighty  propitious 
to  us,  only  as  it  represents  and  communicateth  the 
benefits  of  the  great  sacrifice ;  and  consequently,  as 
long  as  it  is  believed  to  be  but  representative,  it  is 
impossible  it  should  be  the  thing  itself. 

If  this  doctrine  had  been  more  universally  re 
ceived  among  those  who  have  reformed  from  the 
Church  of  Rome,  there  had  not  been  such  a  stum- 
blingblock  laid  in  the  way  of  those,  who  have  been 
inclined  to  embrace  the  protestant  communion.  And 
I  can  assure  my  reader,  from  good  authority,  which 
hath  been  already  quoted  by  considerable  authors, 
that  a  person  of  great  quality  in  France  hath  been 
kept  back  for  no  other  cause  from  coming  to  the 
Church  of  England,  but  that  he  is  told,  SHE  HATH 
NO  SACRIFICE;  to  which  his  learned  correspondent 
here,  who  is  one  of  the  French  ministers,  in  answer 
assured  him,  that  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  the 
Church  of  England  freely  teach  the  doctrine  of  the 
eucharistical  sacrifice,  as  it  was  taught  and  practised 
in  the  purest  ages  of  the  catholic  church. 
The  doc-  Another  subject,  which  our  author  hath  treated 

trine  of  an-      .   ,  1-1  r» 

gets,  and     with  great  accuracy  and  judgment,  is  the  doctrine  of 
£e        )f  angels™,  a  most  noble  part  of  the  creation  ;  millions 

n>  [Sermon  XL] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  417 

of  which  glorious  creatures  are  not  only  subject  to 
the  Majesty  of  the  divine  empire,  but  are  also  in 
struments  of  his  providence  in  governing  the  world, 
as  well  as  bright  examples  set  before  us,  to  raise  us 
to  such  a  zealous  service  of  God,  as  is  performed  in 
heaven.  Their  existence  is  proved  from  reason  and 
Scripture,  an  account  is  given  of  their  creation,  and 
of  the  apostasy  of  many  of  them  from  the  institutes 
of  their  great  Creator.  The  nature  of  the  holy  an 
gels,  and  their  state  and  condition  in  regard  to  God, 
is  fully  described,  as  well  as  their  office  in  reference 
to  good  men,  being  appointed  by  God  as  the  min 
isters  of  his  special  providence  towards  the  faith 
ful  ;  and  farther  it  is  shewn,  wherein  the  angelical 
ministry  for  the  good  of  the  faithful  doth  consist ; 
and  how  it  is  abused  by  those  who  apply  to  them  as 
intercessors  and  advocates  with  God.  The  useful 
thoughts  which  arise  from  the  consideration  of  this 
subject  are  awful  apprehensions  of  the  majesty  of 
God  at  all  times,  but  more  especially  in  our  solemn 
approaches  to  him ;  circumspection  and  caution  in 
all  our  behaviour,  even  in  our  most  secret  retire 
ment  ;  great  humility  and  reverence  when  we  ap 
pear  in  his  presence  ;  a  profound  sense  of  God's  great 
goodness  to  the  sons  of  men,  and  of  the  happy  estate 
of  all  the  faithful ;  and  lastly,  diligence  and  zeal  in 
serving  the  great  God  of  heaven  arid  earth. 

In  his  sermon  concerning  the  blessed  Virgin,  "  he  The  title 
asserts  and  vindicates  her  peculiar  title  of  THE „/ cod'&s 
MOTHER  OF  GOD  ;  which  was  not  invented  by^ 
the  Fathers  of  the  third  general  council  at  Ephesus 
convened  against  Nestorius,  but  approved  by  them 

n   [Sermon  IV.] 

E  e 


418  THE  LIFE  OF 

as  what  belonged  to  her,  since  it  was  the  language 
of  Scripture,  and  the  style  of  the  apostolical  age. 
But  he  sheweth  the  true  significancy  of  the  appel 
lation,  by  proving  that  this  title  doth  not  at  all  infer 
any  right  the  blessed  Virgin  hath  to  our  religious 
adoration ;  for  the  ancient  doctors  of  the  church, 
when  they  contested  with  heretics  concerning  it, 
designed  not  by  that  so  much  to  advance  the  honour 
of  the  blessed  Virgin,  as  to  secure  the  real  and  in 
separable  union  of  the  two  natures  in  Christ ;  and  to 
shew  that  the  human  nature  which  Christ  took  of 
the  holy  Virgin  never  subsisted  separately  from  the 
divine  person  of  the  Son  of  God. 

These  instances  are  sufficient  to  convince  us,  that 
these  sermons  may  serve  us  as  a  touchstone  to  dis 
tinguish  primitive  doctrine  from  modern  errors  which 
have  been  built  upon  them  ;  and  that  we  ought  not 
to  sacrifice  truth  to  those  abuses  to  which  it  hath 
been  exposed. 
The  second  The  second  use  which  I  humbly  conceive  may  be 

use  of  the  .  -  - . 

sermons  is  made  of  the  sermons,  is  m  reference  to  the  candi- 
youn/  M  dates  of  holy  orders,  since  if  I  mistake  not,  they  are 
preachers.  framec]  as  a  verv  pr0per  model,  both  as  to  style  and 
method,  for  their  treating  any  subject  of  divinity : 
and  it  is  of  no  small  advantage  to  those  who  aim  at 
any  considerable  attainment,  to  propose  to  them 
selves  some  excellent  pattern  for  their  imitation. 
His  style  is  strong  and  manly,  but  yet  plain  and  in 
telligible;  he  abhorred  all  affectations  of  pompous 
rhetoric,  and  yet  expresseth  himself  with  great  spirit 
and  life  ;  his  words  seem  chiefly  chosen  to  clothe  his 
masterly  sense  with  clearness  and  propriety.  The 
great  aim  of  his  sermons  is  to  infuse  into  the  hearts 
of  Christians  right  apprehensions  of  the  doctrines  of 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  419 

Christianity,  and  therefore  he  deduceth  them  from 
Scripture,  and  the  purest  ages  of  the  church  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  endeavours  to  make  such  an  impres 
sion  upon  their  minds,  that  they  might  pursue  their 
duty  with  some  warmth  ;  which  he  doth  with  so 
much  more  authority  by  how  much  it  appeareth  that 
lie  was  affected  himself  with  what  he  delivered  to 
others.  But  I  shall  not  enlarge  upon  this  subject 
farther  than  to  recommend  to  the  reader  the  follow 
ing  letter  of  Dr.  Lupton,  who  hath  handled  this  mat 
ter  with  great  exactness.  He  preacheth  at  present 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  lectures  in  London  with 
such  an  universal  approbation,  that  those  who  op 
posed  his  coming  into  that  post  declare  themselves 
in  the  first  rank  of  his  admirers.  This  learned,  ju 
dicious,  and  pious  divine,  was  early  formed  under 
bishop  Bull :  the  first-fruits  of  his  ministry  in  the 
church  were  in  the  station  of  his  curate,  whereby  he 
enjoyed  all  those  advantages  which  he  recommends 
with  so  good  a  grace  to  all  other  candidates  of  divi 
nity ;  and  the  world  now  perceiveth  the  admirable 
use  he  made  of  such  an  excellent  pattern,  since  he  is 
thereby  himself  become  a  fit  model  for  the  preachers 
that  are  rising  in  this  generation  °.  Besides,  his  inti 
mate  knowledge  and  acquaintance  with  bishop  Bull's 
method  qualified  him  to  make  the  truest  judgment 
of  the  excellency  of  his  sermons,  which  was  the  rea 
son  of  my  application  to  the  worthy  doctor ;  upon 
which  account  I  persuade  myself  I  shall  have  the 
thanks  of  the  judicious  reader,  when  he  shall  have 
perused  the  answer  which  the  doctor  was  pleased  to 
write  me  upon  that  occasion. 

0   [Birch,  in  his  Life  of  Tillotson,  seems  to  hint  that  this  high 
encomium  was  not  merited.] 

E  e  2 


420  THE  LIFE  OF 

SIR, 
Dr.  Lup-         YOU   are  pleased    to    demand    my    thoughts   of 

ton  s  letter  • 

to  Mr.       bishop  Bull.     I  do  not  remember  any  remarkable 

Nelson, 

concerning  passage  in  his  life,  but  what  is  already  laid  before 

sermons.5    you  by  other  hands. 

It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  me,  upon  many  ac 
counts,  that  his  sermons  will  be  published,  and  par 
ticularly  for  this  reason,  that  they  will  be,  in  several 
respects,  an  excellent  model  to  be  observed  by  young 
clergymen  in  writing  sermons.  He  abhorred  affecta 
tion  of  wit,  trains  of  fulsome  metaphors,  and  nice 
words  wrought  up  into  tuneful,  pointed  sentences, 
without  any  substantial  meaning  at  the  bottom  of 
them.  lie  looked  upon  sermons  consisting  of  these 
ingredients,  which  should  be  our  aversion,  and  not 
our  aim,  as  empty,  and  frothy,  and  trifling,  as  incon 
sistent  with  the  dignity  of  serious  and  sacred  things, 
and  as  an  indication  of  a  weak  judgment ;  for  he 
was  not  so  censorious  as  to  imagine,  either  that  the 
authors  of  them  do  seek  the  praise  of  men  more  than 
the  praise  of  God,  or  that  they  do,  out  of  vanity, 
attempt  to  make  up  the  real  want  of  good  sense,  by 
a  show  of  good  words. 

Indeed  true  wit,  justly  applied,  doth  deserve  the 
utmost  praise,  in  sermons  as  well  as  in  other  dis 
courses  :  and  yet  there  are  many  instances  of  wit, 
properly  so  called,  to  be  found  in  sermons,  which 
ought  not  by  any  means  to  appear  there.  In  saying 
this,  I  do  not  reflect  particularly  upon  the  sermons 
of  any  one  author,  but  upon  this  general  rule,  well 
known  to  every  judicious  clergyman,  that  whatso 
ever  instance  of  wit,  though  pure,  doth  affect  the 
imagination  alone,  or  doth  in  any  respect  divert  the 
mind  from  a  religious  disposition,  ought  not  to  be 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL. 

admitted  into  religious  discourses,  because  it  is  re 
pugnant  to  the  end  and  design  of  them,  and  prevents 
their  proper  effect.  That  which  would  justly  chal 
lenge  the  utmost  applause  in  common  conversation, 
or  upon  the  stage,  may  with  equal  justice  be  ex 
ploded  from  the  pulpit.  The  proper  use  even  of 
true  wit  doth  require  the  very  best  judgment :  and 
in  both  did  this  learned  prelate  excel,  though  he 
used  the  first  very  sparingly  in  his  sermons  ;  but  the 
second  was  abundantly  demonstrated  in  every  one 
of  them.  For  every  one  comprised  the  principal 
truths  which  belonged  to  the  subject,  and  those  were 
ranged  into  the  most  natural  and  easy  order,  illus 
trated  with  the  utmost  clearness,  confirmed  with  the 
utmost  strength  of  reasoning,  and  expressed  in  the 
most  plain  and  significant  words.  And  such  a  rich 
vein  of  piety  did  run  through  the  whole,  as  would 
have  rendered  it  acceptable  and  delightful  to  any 
man,  who  is  sincerely  religious,  though  it  were  not 
attended  with  those  shadows  of  beauty  and  orna 
ment,  which  are  too  often  thought  to  be  the  best 
parts  of  a  sermon. 

Fineness  of  language  and  brightness  of  thought, 
so  much  talked  of,  are  very  agreeable,  and  highly  to 
be  esteemed,  when  they  are  enlivened  and  actuated 
by  a  spirit  of  piety :  but  when  this  is  wanting,  the 
brightest  discourse  will  leave  men  void  of  spiritual 
understanding ;  for  there  is  natural  understanding, 
and  there  is  spiritual  understanding.  A  sermon 
may  be  very  ingenious  throughout,  and  therefore 
heard  or  read  with  all  that  kind  of  pleasure  which 
ingenious  writings  are  wont  to  give  us,  though  it 
may  not  in  the  least  contribute  to  the  knowledge 
of  any  one  religious  truth,  or  to  the  regulation  of 


422  THE  LIFE  OF 

any  one  passion.  And  if  another  sermon  is  so  hap 
pily  managed,  that  it  will  answer  one  of  the  great 
ends  of  preaching,  that  it  is  apt  either  to  inform  the 
judgment,  or  raise  the  affections  from  objects  which 
are  earthly  and  temporal,  to  those  which  are  hea 
venly  and  eternal  ;  that  ought  to  be  accounted  an 
excellent  discourse,  though  it  should  not  be  adorned 
with  artful  turns  of  words,  or  other  marks  of  wit, 
and  accuracy  of  language  ;  because  every  perform 
ance  is  more  or  less  perfect,  as  it  is  more  or  less 
conducive  to  its  main  end.  Those  therefore  who  are 
censorious  enough  to  reflect  with  severity  upon  the 
pious  strains,  which  are  to  be  found  in  St.  Chrysos- 
tom,  bishop  Beveridge,  or  bishop  Bull,  may  possibly 
be  good  judges  of  an  ode  or  an  essay,  but  do  not 
seem  to  criticise  justly  upon  sermons,  or  to  express 
a  just  value  for  spiritual  things. 

I  shall  the  more  easily  hope  that  you  will  excuse 
me  for  running  such  a  length  in  these  observations, 
because  the  foundation  of  them  is  laid  in  those 
thoughts  which  you  proposed  to, 

Sir, 
Your  most  affectionate, 

humble  servant, 
Nov-  25>  *7«-  WILLIAM  LUPTON. 


LXXXII.  As  to  those  discourses  which  accompany 
Hairs  dis-  the  forementioned  sermons,  the  first,  relating  to  the 

courses. 

And  the     doctrine  of  the   catholic   church  for  the   first  three 

first,  con-  f     ~,     ... 

cerning  the  fiffes  oj  L  lii'istiamty  concerning  me  blessed  Trinity, 

nity.       l~in   opposition   to  Sabellianism   and    Tritheism,  was 

drawn  up  at  the  request  of  a  person  of  quality,  a  lord 

of  a  very  eminent  character  P  ;  who  having  seriously 

)'  [Lord  Arundell.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL. 

considered  that  controversy  at  the  time  when  it  was 
debated  between  Dr.  Sherlock,  then  dean  of  St. 
Paul's,  and  Dr.  South,  found  himself  not  clear  in  the 
sense  of  the  first  and  purest  ages  of  the  church,  in 
reference  to  that  great  mystery.  The  method  his 
lordship  pitched  upon  to  relieve  himself  under  these 
doubts,  was  to  apply  to  Dr.  Bull,  that  great  master 
of  primitive  antiquity ;  but  his  lordship  having  no 
particular  acquaintance  with  the  doctor,  communi 
cated  his  thoughts  to  his  worthy  friend  Mr.  Arch 
deacon  Parsons,  rector  of  Odington  in  Gloucester 
shire  :  this  reverend  clergyman,  being  a  neighbour, 
and  intimately  known  to  Dr.  Bull,  engaged  him  to 
comply  with  his  lordship's  request,  and  to  endeavour 
to  give  him  that  satisfaction,  which  he  had  hitherto 
in  vain  sought  for.  It  is  true,  that  the  ill  state  of 
Dr.  Bull's  health  did  for  some  time  delay  that  an 
swer  which  his  lordship  impatiently  expected  ;  but 
as  soon  as  the  doctor's  recovery  gave  him  ability  and 
leisure  to  apply  his  thoughts  to  that  momentous  sub 
ject,  he  drew  up  the  short  tract  which  is  now  pub 
lished  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  had  finished  it,  he  enclosed 
it  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Archdeacon  Parsons,  in  order 
that  it  might  be  conveyed  to  my  lord,  which  accord 
ingly  was  done,  with  the  letter  which  Dr.  Bull  wrote 
to  the  archdeacon  upon  that  occasion.  Which  being 
communicated  to  me  by  the  reverend  Mr.  Doughty, 
the  lord's  chaplain,  I  insert  it  in  this  place  as  a 
proper  entertainment  for  the  reader. 

Aveniny,  Aug.  3, 1697. 

DEAR  BROTHER, 
IT  hath  pleased  God  to  visit  me  ever  since  Easter  Dr-  Bull's 

letter  to 

last,   till   within  these  three  weeks,  or  thereabout,  archdeacon 

Parsons. 


424  THE  LIFE  OF 

with  an   intermitting   fever,   which  brought   me  so 
low,  that  my  relations  and  friends  almost  despaired 
of  my  life.     In  all  that  time  I  was  not  in  a  con 
dition  to  read  or  write,  or  so  much  as  think  of  any 
thing  that  requires  intenseness   of  mind :   which  is 
the  reason  why  you  have  no  sooner  heard  from  me. 
I  desired  my  son  at  Oxford  to  acquaint  you  with 
this  a  good  while  ago.     I  have  now,  though  still  in 
a  weak  condition,  made  a   shift  to  recollect   some 
thoughts    concerning   the    matter    proposed  to  me, 
which  I  have  delivered  in  the  papers  now  sent  you. 
Which,   when   you   have   perused,   and    shall  think 
them  worthy  of  it,  you  may  send  to  his  lordship,  (if 
it  be  not  too  late,)  with  my  obedience  and  most  hum 
ble  service.     His  lordship  seems  desirous  to  go  in  a 
safe  way,  between  the  two  extremes  of  Sabellianism 
and  Tritheism.     I   have  endeavoured    to    shew  his 
lordship  that   middle  way,  the  way  which  the  pri 
mitive   catholic  church,  guided  by  the  holy  Scrip 
ture,    walked   in.     A   way   it   was   plain    and    easy 
enough,  till  in  aftertimes  it  came  to  be  overrun  and 
perplexed  with  scholastic  subtleties  and  hard  terms, 
as  with  so  many  briers  and  thorns ;  and  now  of  late 
to  be  ridiculed  by  some  among  us,  men  of  little  wit 
indeed,  but  less  judgment,  and  yet  of  far  less  ho 
nesty  ;  who  may  at  the  same  rate  (if  they  will  give 
their  minds  to   it)  expose  and   explode   all  that  is 
sacred,  even  whatsoever  relates  to  the  incomprehen 
sible  Deity. 

What  defects  there  may  be  in  the  writing  I  hope 
will  be  excused,  seeing  I  was  forced  therein  to  make 
use  of  a  raw  youth,  the  bearer  hereof.  Whether  you 
transmit  the  papers  sent  to  his  lordship  or  no,  I  de 
sire  you  will  take  an  opportunity  of  acquainting  his 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  425 

lordship  with  the  condition  I  have  been  in,  that  he 
may  not  think  me  so  rude  as  to  neglect  a  person  of 
his  right  honourable  character. 

I  have  a  true  desire  to  see  you  and  discourse  with 
you,  especially  about  our  sad  and  miserable  church 
of  Landaff :  and  if  God  permit,  I  will  endeavour 
ere  long  to  creep  to  Oclington,  if  the  busy  time  of 
harvest  approaching  shall  not  render  my  coming 
unseasonable.  Writing  is  as  yet  troublesome  to  me ; 
therefore,  to  my  hearty  prayers  unto  Almighty  God 
for  you  and  yours,  I  shall  only  add  this  sincere  pro 
fession,  that  I  am, 

Dear  sir, 
Your  very  affectionate  brother, 

friend,  and  servant, 

GEORGE  BULL. 

This  discourse  was  received  by  his  lordship  with 
much  satisfaction,  as  appeareth  by  the  following 
letter,  found  among  bishop  Bull's  papers  after  his 
death,  and  addressed  by  that  person  of  quality  to 
Mr.  Parsons,  rector  of  Odington. 

Load.  Aug.  17,  1697. 

MY  GOOD  FRIEND, 

MY  being  out  of  town  is  the  reason  you  had  no 
sooner  my  acknowledgment  of  the  receipt  of  yours, 
with  the  enclosed  papers,  which  have  given  me  a 
great  deal  of  satisfaction. 

Had  I  been  a  stranger  to  Mr.  Parsons' s  worth, 
and  the  ill  usage  he  has  met  with  in  the  world,  it 
would  have  been  more  my  wonder  that  so  great  and 
good  a  man  as  Dr.  Bull  should  have  lain  thus  long 
neglected.  Pray  let  my  thanks  have  the  advantage 


426  THE  LIFE  OF 

of  being  presented  him  by  your  hands.  I  am  obliged 
to  you  for  your  kindness  in  inquiring  after  my  son, 
who  is  now  at  Wolfenbuttel  ;  and  I  hope  will  at  last 
prove  a  comfort  to  him,  who  is  eternally 

Yours, 

ARUNDELL. 

P.  S.  I  think  the  hinge  whereon  the  great  point 
of  the  Trinity  turns,  is  the  true  stating  of  the  dis 
tinction  between  nature  and  person,  which  I  am  so 
dull  as  to  think  is  not  clearly  done  by  the  bishop  of 
Worcester. 

The  next  discourse,  concerning  which  the  reader 
concerning  may  be  apt  to  require  some  information,  is  the 
versions''1  'fourth,  which  containeth  some  Animadversions  on  a 


Treatise  of  Mr.  Gilbert  Clerke,  entitled,  Ante-Nice- 
cierke.  nismus,  so  far  as  the  said  author  pretends  to  answer 
Dr.  George  Bull's  Defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith.  Now 
I  must  acquaint  him,  that  the  manuscript  of  these 
animadversions  was  found  among  Dr.  Grabe's  papers  ; 
and  I  was  inclined  at  first  to  think  that  Dr.  Grabe 
was  the  author  of  them,  because  he  had  undertaken 
to  answer  the  treatise  upon  which  the  animadver 
sions  were  made.  But  when  I  had  carefully  perused 
them,  it  appeared  very  evident  that  they  belonged 
to  Dr.  Bull  ;  for  they  are  composed  in  his  style  and 
manner  of  writing,  they  every  where  refer  to  the 
Defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith,  as  his  own,  and  the 
latter  part  of  them  is  closed  in  his  own  hand-writ 
ing  :  and  what  puts  this  matter  out  of  dispute  is,  that 
Dr.  Grabe  is  twice  quoted  in  these  animadversions, 
once  under  the  character  of  the  most  learned  Dr.  Grabe, 
and  another  time  as  the  author's  most  learned  and  kind 
friend  ;  now  no  disguise  could  have  prevailed  upon 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  427 

that  modest  humble  man  to  have  treated  himself 
with  so  much  respect  (i.  All  this,  I  think,  is  con 
firmed  by  a  letter  of  Dr.  Bull  to  Dr.  Grabe,  which 
was  found  among  the  papers  of  the  latter,  and  is 
here  offered  to  the  reader,  that  he  may  make  his 
own  judgment  upon  it. 

Averting,  Jan.  25,  1705^. 

WORTHY  SIR, 

I  AM  not  able  to  express  the  grateful  sense  I Dr-  Bull's 

letter  to 

have  of  your  great  kindness  and  condescension,  in  Dr.  Grabe. 
taking  upon  you  the  trouble  of  revising,  correcting, 
perfecting,  and  adorning,  with  your  learned  notes,  the 
new  edition  of  my  works,  and  particularly  in  your 
ready  and  voluntary  undertaking  an  answer  to  the 
Ante-Nicenismus.  If  my  poor  labours  hereafter 
prove  useful  to  the  church  of  God,  a  great  share 
of  the  thanks  due  from  men,  and  of  the  gracious 
reward  of  our  good  and  merciful  God,  will  be  justly 
yours.  I  wish  I  were  able  to  make  you  some  sen 
sible  effectual  requital.  But  my  poor  circumstances 
are  such  that  I  can  return  you  nothing  but  my 
prayers  to  God,  that  he  would  reward  you  abun 
dantly  in  this  life,  and  that  which  is  to  come.  The 
short  notes  and  animadversions  upon  the  Ante- 
Nicenismus,  which  I  mentioned  in  my  letter  to 
Dr.  Bray,  you  will  certainly  receive  (if  I  live)  this 
day  sevennight ;  for  I  will  send  them  by  the  post 
next  Saturday.  I  wish  they  be  such  as  your  judg 
ment  may  approve  of.  They  are  perfectly  at  your 
disposal,  to  do  with  them  as  you  please.  And  if 
there  be  any  thing  in  them,  which  may  be  of  use  to 

II  [The  MS.  is  now  in  the  Bodleian  library  amongst  Dr.Grabe's 
papers,  and  has  been  collated  for  the  present  edition.] 


428  THE  LIFE  OF 

you  in  your  answer  to  the  Ante-Nicenismus,  I  shall 
be  very  glad.  Dear  sir,  farewell,  and  that  God  would 
bless  and  prosper  you,  and  your  labours,  for  the  good 
of  his  church,  is  and  shall  be  the  daily  and  hearty 
prayer  of 

Your  most  obliged  and  affectionate 

friend  and  faithful  servant, 

GEORGE  BULL. 

The  book  which  gave    occasion  to  these  anim- 

answer  to 

Dr.  Bull,  adversions  was  printed  in  1695,  with  the  title  of 
ni-  Ante-Nicenismus,  or  the  Testimonies  of  the  Fathers, 
WJIQ  wrofe  ftefore  f/ie  Council  of  Nice,  whence  may  be 
collected  the  sense  of  the  catholic  church  touching  the 
Trinity,  And  at  the  same  time  came  out  a  Latin 
answer  also  to  Dr.  Bull's  Defensio  Fidei,  &c,,  both 
written  by  Mr.  Gilbert  Clerke,  who  published  his 
name,  as  not  being  ashamed  or  afraid  to  own  what 
he  had  written,  because  he  took  it  to  be  the  very 
cause  of  God,  and  of  his  unity  against  all  sorts  of 
Polytheists.  These  two  treatises  were  accompanied 
by  a  third,  without  the  author's  name,  called  The 
true  and  ancient  Faith,  concerning  the  Divinity  of 
Christ,  asserted,  against  Dr.  George  Butt's  Judgment 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  &c. 

These  r  three  tracts  came  out  together,  that  so 

r  Tractatus  tres  ;  quorum  qui  prior  Ante-Nicenismus  dicitur  ; 
is  exhibet  testimonia  Patrum  Ante-Nicenorum,  in  quibus  elucet 
sensus  ecclesise  primsevo-catholicfc  quoad  articulum  de  Trinitate. 
In  secundo  Brevis  Responsio  ordinatur  ad  D.G  .Bulli  Defensionem 
Synodi  Nicente,  authore  Gilberto  Clerke,  Anglo.  Argumentum 
postremi  :  Vera  et  Antiqua  Fides  de  Divinitate  Christi  explicata 
et  asserta,  contra  D.  Bulli  Judicium  EcdesicE  Catholics,  &c.,  per 
Anonymum,  anno  Domini,  1695. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  429 

ttie  Unitarians  might  thereby  take  an  occasion  to 
boast  of  a  complete  answer  in  Latin  to  all  that  our 
author  had  hitherto  written  in  this  controversy  ;  for 
it  was  about  a  year  after  that  the  Judgment  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  &c.,  had  been  printed,  and  received 
generally  with  great  applause,  that  these  were  pub 
lished. 

The  Ante-Nicenismus  is  not  indeed  a  direct  an 
swer  to  Dr.  Bull ;  for  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
Mr.  Clerke  had  ever  once  read  the  doctor's  Defence 
of  the  Nicene  Faith ;  or  even  so  much  as  looked 
into  it,  when  this  book  was  by  him  compiled ;  but  it 
seemeth  to  be  chiefly  in  imitation  of  the  Irenicum 
IrenicoTum  of  Zuickerus  and  the  Nucleus  of  San- 
dius,  with  a  design  to  shew,  if  possible,  the  consent 
of  the  primitive  writers  before  the  determination  of 
the  council  of  Nice  for  the  opinion  which  he  had 
embraced.  Now  it  appears,  that  after  Mr.  Gilbert 
Clerke  had  printed  his  Ante-Nicenismus,  yet  not 
improbably  before  it  was  published  ;  and  after  that  he 
had  made  some  additions  thereto,  concerning  Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  from  the  Paris  edition  of  his  works 
just  then  come  to  his  hands,  by  way  of  supplement 
to  the  said  Ante-Nicenismus,  or  by  way  of  intro 
duction  to  that  tract  joined  to  it ;  which  additions 
are  therefore  placed  in  the  beginning  of  his  Brevis 
Responsio ;  yea,  even  before  any  the  least  notice  is 
taken  of  our  author,  or  what  he  had  written  on  that 
subject ;  Mr.  Clerke  being  s  upbraided  by  one  of  his 

s  Post  hsec  de  Clemente  Ante-Nicenismo  addita  procuravi 
mihi  doctissimi  viri  D.  Georyii  Bulli  Defensionem  Fldei  Nicenae, 
quam  totam  diligenter  perlegi,  eoque  diligentius,  quoniam  amicus 
quidam  exprobavit  mihi  quod  scriberem  tali  et  tanto  viro  fere 
penitus  inconsulto.  Brevis  Respons.  p.  77. 


430  THE  LIFE  OF 

friends  for  so  rashly  adventuring  to  write  on  this 
subject,  without  first  consulting  or  examining  well 
what  so  great  a  man  as  Dr.  Bull  bad  been  able  to 
say  thereupon ;  then  procured,  as  he  saith,  the  doc 
tor's  Defence  of  the  Nicene  Faith,  and  carefully 
read  it  through,  which  he  did  purely  from  the  re 
commendation  of  that  friend,  not  upon  any  desire  of 
his  own  for  fuller  satisfaction  in  this  matter ;  he 
taking  it  for  granted  that  Dr.  Bull,  in  the  last  sec 
tion  of  his  Defence,  which  is  concerning  the  subordi 
nation,  had  yielded  great  part  of  the  question  up  to 
the  Unitarians  ;  and  thence  doth  seem  to  have  been 
perfectly  unacquainted  with  the  very  book  he  had 
undertaken  to  answer,  till  he  had  finished  the  better 
half  of  his  task ;  as  may  presently  be  seen  by  cast 
ing  but  an  eye  upon  these  two  tracts,  if  that  they 
may  not  rather  be  considered  as  two  parts  only  of 
the  same  work. 

The  man-        LXXXIII.  After  Mr.  Clerke  had  read  over  Dr. 

ner  of  Mr. 

cierke's  Bull's  book  upon  his  friend's  persuasion,  he  con- 
theUmtari- tinned  still  firm  to  his  former  opinion,  and  not  to  be 
the* doctor*  moved  from  what  he  had  written;  pretending  that 
he  saw  not  any  reason  why  he  should  expunge  so 
much  as  one  line  out  of  that  collection  he  had  made 
of  the  testimonies  of  the  Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  from 
whence  he  had  given  it  the  title  of  Ante-Nicenism. 
Though  he  Acknowledged  Dr.  Bull  at  the  same 
time  to  be  far  his  superior  in  the  writings  of  the 
ancient  Fathers,  and  that  he  wanted  neither  industry 
nor  sagacity,  or  acuteness,  to  read  and  judge  of  them 
as  he  ought,  besides  several  other  advantages  that 

*  Brev.  Resp.  p.  78. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  431 

were  possessed  by  him.  Notwithstanding  which  he 
made  no  doubt,  but  that  he  should  be  able  to  defend 
what  he  had  written,  and  to  justify  those  testimonies 
which  he  had  brought  out  of  the  Fathers,  as  depend 
ing  upon  the  supposed  goodness  of  his  cause  and  the 
power  of  truth. 

And  he  accuseth  all  the  Trinitarians,  both  papists 
and  protestants,  for  pretending  to  have  all  the  primi 
tive  Fathers  on  their  side  in  the  article  of  the  Tri 
nity  from  the  apostles  downwards  :  but  excuseth  the 
Unitarians  for  being  more  modest  in  the  matter,  and 
commendeth  them  for  the  only  persons  who  have  in 
genuity  enough  to  own  frankly  that  the  ancient  ec 
clesiastical  writers  do  not  so  wholly  agree  with  them. 
Nay,  he  sayeth,  that  these  Unitarians  are  unani 
mously  agreed  to  dispute  against  those  primitive 
doctors  even  before  the  council  of  Nice,  who  took 
up  their  notions  concerning  Christ  according  to  him, 
not  from  the  Scriptures,  but  from  their  own  imagin 
ations,  and  from  the  philosophy  in  which  they  had 
been  before  instructed.  And  yet  nevertheless  he 
and  his  companions  value  themselves,  that  the  doc 
tors  of  the  three  first  centuries  were  generally  of  the 
same  opinion  with  themselves,  as  holding  the  Father 
only  to  be  the  most  high  God.  However  Justin 
Martyr  cannot  escape  being  pelted  at  (a  certain 
mark  he  was  not  of  the  same  opinion  with  them) 
for  an  innovator ;  nor  indeed  any  of  those  whom  he 
is  pleased  to  name  the  philosophical  doctors,  who 
are  here  represented  by  him  as  the  great  corrupters 
of  the  Gospel,  and  introducers  of  paganism  into  the 
church. 

Thus  are  the  venerable  doctors  of  the  first  ages  of 
Christianity  dressed  up  by  him,  so  as  they  may  be 


432  THE  LIFE  OF 

exposed  for  weak  and  insufficient  evidences  of  the 
Christian  faith,  and  at  the  very  time  too,  that  an 
appeal  is  pretended  to  be  made  to  their  authority. 
For  it  is  pretended  by  this  writer,  that  these  primi 
tive  divines,  most  of  whom  sealed  with  their  blood 
that  faith  which  they  delivered  down  to  us,  were 
no  better  than  half  Christians ;  who  had  taken  up 
their  notions  concerning*  the  Son  of  God,  not  from 
Christ  himself,  or  his  apostles,  but  from  their  own 
fancies  and  the  school  of  Plato  ;  and  that  what  they 
had  been  taught  in  the  academy  of  this  philosopher, 
was  by  them  obtruded  as  matter  of  faith  upon  the 
people;  to  the  fulfilling  hereby  the  divine  predic 
tions  in  the  mystery  of  the  great  apostasy,  by  their 
causing  thus  the  Christian  church  to  depart  from 
the  original  simplicity  of  the  faith.  And  moreover 
he  boasteth  that  there  were  great  number  of  the 
Unitarians,  who  lived  near  the  days  of  the  apostles, 
and  were  likewise  esteemed  great  philosophers  and 
mathematicians;  the  names  of  several  of  whom  he 
reciteth,  and  they  are  either  such  as  apostatized 
from  Christianity  to  Judaism,  or  corrupted  the  Christ 
ian  faith  by  introducing  novel  heresies,  or  having 
formerly  denied  the  deity  of  our  Saviour,  returned 
afterwards  to  the  orthodox  communion,  as  did  Na- 
talis  and  Beryllus. 

It  is  his  opinion,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
as  explained  by  the  orthodox,  is  a  branch  of  uMon- 
tanism,  and  that  Tertullian,  after  he  had  been  in 
structed  by  Montanus,  invented  a  new  rule  of  faith, 
by  which  he  laid  the  foundation  of  Athanasianism. 
Wherein  he  hath  followed  Schlictingius,  who  was 

u  Ante-Nicenismus,  p.  23,  24. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  4-33 

the  first  that  started  this  charge,  and  attempted  to 
prove  it  in  the  xbook  he  wrote  against  Dr.  Meisner, 
an  eminent  Lutheran  divine,  concerning  the  Trinity, 
and  other  matters  of  highest  importance.  And  here 
upon  he  calleth  Tertullian  the  ^new  Trinitarian 
with  great  indignation,  and  also  the  father  of  the 
Trinitarians;  as  if  the  Trinitarian  scheme  were 
originally  nought  but  an  enthusiasm  of  Montanus 
and  his  prophetesses  dressed  up  by  this  his  disciple. 
And  that  he  might  expose  the  divine  economy  of 
the  ever-blessed  Trinity,  by  which  the  Father  is 
conceived  as  the  fountain  and  original  with  respect 
to  the  Son  and  Spirit,  for  an  enthusiastic  jargon ;  he 
will  allow  our  great  defenders  of  the  catholic  doc 
trine  in  this  point  no  better  appellation  than  that  of 
our  Fontanists  and  Montanists.  For,  as  he  sup- 
poseth  the  Platonic  and  Arian  Trinity  to  have  been 
chiefly  the  innovation  of  Justin  Martyr ;  so  he  fanci- 
eth  the  Nicene  and  Athanasian  Trinity  to  have 
been  principally  derived  from  Tertullian  after  that 
he  was  infected  with  the  Cataphrygian  heresy ;  and 
that  the  doctrine  particularly  of  the  Son's  consub- 
stantiality  with  the  Father,  and  the  coeternitij  con 
sequent  from  it,  was  taken  up  from  the  reveries  of 
those  fanatics. 

But  after  all,  Mr.  Clerke  would  seem  so  generous 
as  even  to  zgrant  to  Dr.  Bull  both  the  consubstan- 
tiality  and  coeternity,  if  the  doctor  would  rest  satis 
fied  therewith,  and  not  level  his  darts,  as  he  doth 

x  De  S.  S.  Trinitate,  de  moralibus  N.  et  V.  Test,  prseceptis,  ac 
disputatio  adversus  Balth.  Meisner,  vide  Prsefat. 

y  Multa  id  genus  habet  hie  novus  Trinitarius  et  Trinitariorum 
Pater.  Ante-Nicen.  p.  25. 

z  Brevis  Respons.  p.  100.  and  78,  79. 

F  f 


434  THE  LIFE  OF 

every  where  throughout  his  book,  against  the  Unita 
rians,  for  not  owning  Christ  to  be  the  most  high 
God,  and  to  have  the  same  numerical  essence  with 
the  Father ;  yea,  he  is  content  that  his  Unitarian 
brethren  should  not  only  acknowledge  him  as  God, 
but  as  the  great  God  also,  and  even  as  God  over 
all,  blessed  for  ever.  Nay,  he  maketh  no  manner 
of  doubt  of  their  allowing  him  these  titles  :  so  that 
where  any  of  these  occur,  either  in  the  sacred  writers, 
or  in  the  primitive  monuments  of  Christianity  before 
the  council  of  Nice,  as  applied  to  Christ,  they  shall 
make  no  scruple  of  receiving  them,  and  freely  using 
them  with  respect  to  him ;  but  all  this  while  con 
tinue  as  wide  as  ever  from  the  sense  the  Trinita 
rians  put  on  those  words,  who  understand  them  in 
their  proper  signification.  Whereas  he  will  have 
them  understood  always  appellatively ;  that  is,  in 
the  same  sense  as  angels  and  earthly  princes  have 
the  appellation  of  gods.  Thus  Christ  they  will 
vouchsafe  to  own  may  be  called  so  with  respect  to 
us,  or  as  he  is  the  Christ,  or  anointed  of  God,  and 
our  Lord:  and  that  he  is  a  great  God:  above  all 
other  made  or  called  gods,  and  by  reason  of  that 
majesty  and  divinity  which  he  hath  obtained  by 
the  gift  of  God,  being  exalted  to  sit  at  his  right 
hand,  may  be  esteemed  God  over  all,  and  therefore 
by  us  blessed  for  ever.  This  is  his  short  way  to 
get  rid  of  Dr.  Bull's  Fathers,  but  more  particularly 
of  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  who  is  very  troublesome 
to  him,  and  cost  him  much  pains  before  this  expe 
dient  was  invented. 

There  is  also  one  thing  more  remarkable  in  Mr. 
Clerke's  answer,  and  is,  I  think,  his  own  invention ; 
at  least  he  is  very  fond  of  it  as  such,  for  it  runneth 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  435 

almost  quite  through  his  book,  and  the  main  stress 
of  his  arguments  against  the  doctor  turneth  upon  it. 
This  is  the  distinction  of  high  sense  and  low  sense : 
according  to  which,  he  hath  laid  it  down  for  a  foun 
dation,  that  all  the  high  expressions,  which  are 
found  either  in  the  Scriptures  or  the  Fathers,  de 
noting  a  divine  and  supereminent  character,  are 
differently  to  be  understood ;  that  is,  they  must 
alwrays  be  taken  by  us  in  the  high  sense,  when  the 
Father  is  spoken  of,  and  in  the  low  sense,  when  the 
Son  is  meant.  By  the  help  of  this  distinction  it 
was,  he  thought,  easy  for  him  to  bear  down  all  the 
testimonies,  though  never  so  plain,  that  could  be 
brought  against  him  by  Dr.  Bull,  or  any  other.  Let 
it  suffice  to  have  given  this  short  account,  both  of 
his  Ante-Nicenism,  and  his  Answer  to  Dr.  Bull ;  to 
whose  learned  and  judicious  animadversions,  con 
tained  in  the  fourth  Discourse,  both  in  Latin  and 
English,  the  reader  is  referred  for  his  full  satisfac 
tion  ;  though  the  whole  scheme  is  so  precarious  and 
inconsistent,  that  it  doth  not  appear  capable  of 
doing  any  great  mischief. 

This  Mr.  Gilbert  Clerke  was  the  son  of  Mr.  John  Some  ™- 
Clerke,  schoolmaster  of  Uppingham  in  Rutland.    He  life  and 
was  admitted  into  Sidney  college  at  Cambridge  in  Mr.  Gilbert 
the  year   1641,   being   then    scarce   of  the    age    Of(lerke' 
fifteen ;  seven  years  after  this  he  was  made  fellow 
of  the  house,  having  taken  the  degree  of  master  of 
arts.     After   three    years    more,   being  then   about 
five    and  twenty,  he    received    presbyterian    orders, 
and  his  allowance  in  the  college  thereupon  was  aug 
mented,  as  their  statutes  require  for  those  who  are 
ordained   priests.      The  next  year  he    was    created 
proctor  of  the  university.     He  left  his  fellowship 

F  f  2 


436  THE  LIFE  OF 

after  the  commencement  1655,  refusing  to  take  his 
degree  of  bachelor  in  divinity,  to  which  the  statutes 
obliged  him.  The  reason  of  his  retiring  so  from  the 
college,  and  refusing  to  take  that  degree,  was  doubt 
less  upon  the  account  of  his  principles,  of  which  he 
was  much  suspected,  but  never  in  the  college  con 
victed,  as  1  could  ever  hear.  His  learning  lay 
chiefly  in  the  mathematics,  but  he  was  also  esteem 
ed  a  very  good  Grecian,  and  a  great  Scripturist. 
He  chiefly  consulted  the  modern  critics,  when  he 
read  the  Bible,  not  omitting  the  Polonians,  or  else 
trusted  to  his  own  invention  and  sagacity  in  that 
part  of  divinity,  without  ever  advising  with  the 
ancients,  of  whom  he  had  a  very  low  esteem.  He 
thought  the  controversy  between  us  and  the  church 
of  Rome  not  worthy  his  study  ;  because  the  errors 
of  the  papists  seemed  to  him  so  gross  and  palpable, 
as  not  to  need  it.  He  betook  himself  therefore  to 
read  the  Socinian  writers,  whence  he  became,  in  the 
main,  a  Socinian ;  yet  he  did  not  symbolize  with 
them  in  their  errors,  touching  the  divine  attributes ; 
upon  which  account  he  would  sometime  say  he  was 
no  Socinian.  Some  also,  to  whom  he  was  personally 
known,  have  excepted  the  point  of  the  satisfaction, 
for  he  seemed  indeed  to  have  had  some  particular 
notions  of  his  own  about  this  matter.  He  was  a 
man  of  an  open  and  frank  disposition,  but  withal 
too  bold,  and  easily  to  be  heated ;  otherwise,  the 
conduct  of  his  life  was  sober  and  regular,  not  ble 
mished  with  any  remarkable  immorality,  but  rather 
abounding  with  good  works,  which  he  earnestly 
pressed.  He  was  very  busy  and  zealous,  in  defend 
ing  those  new  principles  which  he  had  taken  up, 
and  which  the  gross  absurdities  of  the  antinomian 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  437 

system,  then  much  in  vogue,  had  probably  contri 
buted  more  than  a  little  to  fling  him  into.  After 
that  he  quitted  the  university,  he  went  and  lived 
very  retired  in  Northamptonshire,  and  his  elder  bro 
ther  dying  about  that  time,  an  estate  came  to  him 
of  4sOl.  a  year,  which  was  looked  upon  by  his  friends 
as  a  providential  blessing  to  him,  and  prevented  his 
wanting.  He  was,  for  certain,  an  excellent  mathe 
matician  ;  his  book  upon  Mr.  Oughtred's  Clams a 
being  much  valued  by  the  ablest  judges  in  that  part 
of  learning.  But  it  is  the  opinion  even  of  some  of 
his  friends,  that  he  was  not  so  thoroughly  versed  in 
the  Arian  controversy,  about  which  he  engaged.  It 
appears,  that  Mr.  Clerke  did  not  long  survive  this 
his  answer  to  Dr.  Bull ;  for  within  three  years  after 
the  edition  of  it,  I  find  his  name  and  character  in 
a  certain  bSocinian  pamphlet,  as  some  time  before 
dead,  with  several  others,  who  had  maintained  in 
this  kingdom  the  cause  of  the  Unitarians.  The  sub 
stance  of  that  imperfect  and  anonymous  tract,  printed 
against  Dr.  Bull's  Judgment  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
&c.,  will  be  found  sufficiently  answered  in  that  book 
of  the  Primitive  and  Apostolical  Tradition.,  &c., 
which  Dr.  Bull  published  against  Dr.  Zuicker,  upon 
whose  principles  that  writer  buildeth  very  much ; 
and  which  was  the  last  of  all  the  Latin  works  of 
our  author,  published  in  his  lifetime. 

LXXXIV.    The  fifth  and  last   discourse,  which  T^  fifth, 
is   now   printed,   and   entitled,  Concerning  the  first  concerning 

a  [Clavis  Mathcmatica,  1648:  dcnuo  limata,  sive  potius  fabricata, 
1652.] 

b  The  Grounds  and  Occasions  of  the  Controversy  concerning 
the  Unity  of  God,  &c.,  4to.  1698.  p.  17. 


438  THK  LIFE  OF 

the  state  of  Covenant,  and  the  State  of  Man  before  the  Fall, 
the Fau,&.c.  according  to  Scripture,  and  the  Sense  of  the  pri 
mitive  Doctors  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  was  drawn 
up  by  our  learned  author  many  years  ago,  and,  as 
near  as  I  can  guess,  about  the  time  that  he  was  en 
gaged  in  the  controversy  tot  justification*.  It  plainly 
appeareth,  that  it  cost  him  a  great  deal  of  labour 
and  study,  and  he  seemed,  upon  some  occasions,  to 
express  himself  with  some  favour  towards  it.  For 
having  lent  it  to  a  certain  person,  whose  name  he  had 
forgot,  it  was  lost  for  many  years,  and  recovered  by 
the  following  accident.  A  neighbouring  clergyman 
dying,  Mr.  Stephens,  son-in-law  to  the  bishop,  bought 
part  of  his  books,  and  among  his  pamphlets  found 
this  treatise,  which  he  immediately  brought  to  the 
author,  who  could  not  forbear  declaring  his  satis 
faction  for  the  recovery  of  that,  upon  which  he  had 
bestowed  no  small  pains.  After  this,  it  was  read  by 
some  considerable  clergymen  in  that  neighbourhood, 
and  at  last  communicated  to  his  particular  friend 
Dr.  Fowler,  the  present  lord  bishop  of  Gloucester,  in 
whose  hands  it  had  lain  so  long,  that  his  lordship, 
when  I  applied  to  him  upon  that  account,  had 
entirely  lost  any  remembrance  of  it.  But  he  was 
pleased  very  readily  to  consent  to  the  proposal  I 
made,  of  having  his  manuscripts  searched  by  some 
able  and  faithful  person ;  this  happily  answered  my 
expectation,  and  in  a  few  days  the  manuscript  was 
brought  me,  writ  all  in  Dr.  Bull's  own  hand,  with 
which  I  was  very  well  acquainted. 

0  [It  was  written  not  long  before  the  publication  of  the  Exa- 
men  Ccnsurtf,  in  answer  to  Truman's  work,  which  appeared  in 
1671.  (See  p.  141.)  The  discourse  was  therefore  composed  be 
tween  1671  and  1675.  Ejcamen,  Append,  ad  Animudv.  17,6.] 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  439 

Whatever    sentiments    I    might    have    upon    theCommuni- 

„  .          -r  MI-  cated  to  Dr. 

perusal  or  this  excellent  treatise,  1  was  unwilling  toiiickes. 
trust  my  own  judgment  in  a  matter  of  that  nature,  raetecr.a" 
and  therefore  I  immediately  communicated  the  work 
to  my  very  learned  and  worthy  friend  Dr.  Hickes, 
that  great  master  of  ecclesiastical  antiquity,  and  the 
most  considerable  reviver  of  primitive  theology  that 
hath  appeared  in  our  time.  Though  he  is  admirably 
skilled  in  other  parts  of  useful  learning,  yet  he  hath 
laboured  with  great  success  in  d  untrodden  paths,  a 
certain  mark  of  a  great  genius,  whereby  the  utmost 
parts  of  Europe  will  have  an  occasion  to  celebrate 
his  profound  erudition.  But  he  excelleth  in  his  own 
profession,  having  built  his  study  of  divinity  upon 
the  holy  Scriptures,  and  the  primitive  Fathers  of 
the  church,  as  the  best  expositors  of  those  sacred 
writings;  and  hath  thereby  created  such  a  regard 
to  antiquity  in  the  generation  of  young  divines,  that 
are  now  rising  among  us,  that  we  may  hope  to  see 
the  next  age  preserved  from  the  infection  of  those 
latitudinarian  principles,  which  have  too  much  pre 
vailed  in  this.  His  readiness  to  communicate  his 
knowledge  draweth  an  application  to  him  from  men 
of  the  greatest  figure  for  their  talents,  and  renders 
his  friendship  a  true  and  valuable  blessing.  But 
above  all,  the  solid  and  substantial  piety  of  his  con 
duct  maketh  his  example  a  constant  instruction  to 
those  who  live  within  the  reach  of  it.  It  was  to 
this  excellent  friend,  that  I  proposed  the  perusal  of 
bishop  Bull's  treatise,  which  I  had  recovered  from 
the  bishop  of  Gloucester.  I  am  apt  to  think  the 

d  Linguarum  Vett.  Septentrionalium  Thesaurus  Grammatico- 
Criticus  et  Archeeologicus.  Autore  Gcorgio  Hickesio,,  S.  T.  1'. 
MDCCV.  fol.  2  voll. 


440  THE  LIFE  OF 

judicious  reader  will  be  very  well  pleased  with  the 
method  I  took,  when  he  shall  have  read  the  learned 
answer,  which  I  received  from  that  eminent  divine 
upon  this  occasion,  which  is  here  inserted  for  his 
edification. 


Hampstead,  Aug.  5,  1712. 

HONOURED  SIR, 
I  TFIANK  you  very  heartily  for  the  entertain- 

letter  to  1,1.1.  i 

Mr.  Nelson  iiient  I  have  had  here  in  reading  the  enclosed  manu- 
shop  Buffs  script,  as  well  as  for  the  great  pleasure  I  had  in 
fifth  dis-  reading  the  same  author's  most  excellent  manuscript 

course.  o 

sermons,  when  I  was  in  Town.  I  have  read  it  atten 
tively  twice  over  with  the  greatest  pleasure  ;  and  I 
think  it,  both  as  to  the  learning  and  solid  reasoning 
in  it,  equal  to  any  thing  that  great  man  hath  writ 
ten  in  either  language,  and  what,  I  believe,  will  be 
judged  by  divines  as  one  of  the  best  tracts  among 
his  remains,  and  as  worthy  as  any  of  them  of  his 
great  name.  Before  I  read  it,  I  was  not  perfectly 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  his  second  proposition,  viz. 
That  our  first  parents,  besides  the  seeds  of  natural 
virtue  and  religion,  and  the  innocence  and  recti 
tude  wherein  they  were  created,  were  also  endowed 
with  certain  supernatural  gifts,  and  powers  infused 
by  the  Spirit  of  God;  without  which,  their  natural 
powers  were  of  themselves  not  sufficient  to  attain 
an  heavenly  immortality.  I  am  not  ashamed  to 
confess,  that,  like  many  of  my  betters  in  divinity,  I 
was  not  settled  in  the  belief  of  this  doctrine,  before 
I  read  this  discourse  ;  but  now  I  rejoice  in  my  con 
viction  of  the  truth  of  it  :  because,  as  the  learned 
author  observes,  it  utterly  overthrows  the  Pelagian 
heresy,  and  shews  the  absolute  necessity  of  divine 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  441 

grace  to  fallen  man ;  without  which,  it  is  impossible 
for  him  to  attain  that  righteousness,  which,  upon 
Gospel-terms,  is  necessary  to  salvation. 

The  way  he  hath  taken  to  prove  the  doctrine  in 
his  second  proposition,  will,  I  hope,  convince  all 
students  in  divinity,  how  necessary  it  is  to  read  the 
ancient  Fathers,  in  order  downward  from  the  aposto 
lical  age,  and  to  shew  the  folly  of  those  men,  who 
either  out  of  ignorance,  or  prejudice,  or  much  worse 
causes,  endeavour  by  their  several  ways  to  weaken 
the  authority  of  those  primitive  divines,  and  bring 
their  writings  into  contempt,  because  they  cannot 
stand  before  them.  Accordingly,  the  men  who  thus 
conspire,  as  it  wrere,  to  blast  them,  are  of  several 
classes  and  sorts.  Some  speak  and  write  against 
them  out  of  malice,  as  the  Pharisees  spake  against 
our  Saviour  and  his  miracles  ;  I  mean,  those  TrpooToro- 
KOI  rov  Zarai/a,  the  deists,  and  all  other  professed  ene 
mies  and  ridiculers  of  revealed  religion,  to  whom  the 
apostle  himself  would  have  said,  0  full  of  all  sub 
tlety  and  all  mischief,  ye  children  of  the  Devil,  you 
enemies  of  all  righteousness ;  will  you  not  cease  to 
pervert  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord?  Others  again 
speak  and  write  against  the  Fathers,  because  their 
ancient  writings  are  contrary  to  the  heretical  doc 
trines  and  schemes  of  these  our  modern  Arians,  So- 
cinians,  and  Unitarians  of  all  sorts,  among  whom  I 
reckon  the  Quakers,  who,  as  Unitarians,  I  cannot 
but  observe,  are  qualified  to  make  members  of  the 
society  that  I  hear  is  now  a  forming,  under  the  pre 
tence  of  advancing  Christianity.  Next  to  these  I 
may  reckon  the  other  sects  among  us,  which  I  care 
not  to  name ;  but  who  are  also  against  the  Fathers, 
for  no  other  reason,  but  because  their  writings  bear 


442  THE  LIFE  OF 

testimony  against  them.  Just  as  Mr.  Hobbes  ob 
serves,  if  reason  is  against  a  man,  a  man  will  be 
against  reason.  But  the  adversaries  of  the  Fathers, 
who  are  most  to  be  deplored,  are  those  who  endea 
vour  to  depreciate  their  writings,  merely  because 
they  are  contrary  to  some  opinions  which  they  have 
had  the  misfortune  to  imbibe  from  the  systematical, 
controversial,  or  other  writers  since  the  reformation. 
But,  as  the  learned  bishop  saith,  I  hope  the  inge 
nuous  among  this  sort  of  their  adversaries  will  learn 
from  his  works,  and  particularly  from  this  discourse, 
"  of  the  State  of  Man  before  the  Fall,  the  modesty 
"  of  submitting  their  judgments  to  that  of  the  catho- 
"  lie  doctors,  where  they  are  found  generally  to  con- 
"  cur  in  the  interpretation  of  Scripture,  how  absurd 
"  soever  that  interpretation  may  at  first  appearance 
"  to  them  seem  to  be." 

Among  these  despisers  and  disparagers  of  the 
ancient  Fathers  are  those  bold  (and  I  will  add  igno 
rant)  men  to  be  found,  who,  as  this  great  divine 
speaks,  fasten  this  charge  upon  them,  namely,  that 
they  taught  the  same  doctrine,  which  the  church 
afterwards  condemned  in  Pelagius,  who  asserted  a 
sufficiency  in  man's  natural  powers,  even  in  his  lapsed 
estate,  without  the  grace  of  God,  to  perform  those 
things,  which  conduce  to  eternal  life  promised  in  the 
Gospel.  Among  our  modern  writers,  he  only  men 
tions  Mr.  Baxter,  for  this  bold  and  groundless  as 
sertion  ;  of  which,  though  the  utter  falseness  doth 
so  plainly  appear,  from  what  the  bishop  hath  cited 
out  of  the  Fathers,  to  prove  his  second  proposition  ; 
yet  for  a  farther  vindication  of  those  primitive  guides, 
and  lights  of  the  church,  from  this  unjust  aspersion, 
as  well  as  to  vindicate  the  doctrine  of  divine  grace, 


DR.  GEORGE  HULL.  443 

and  its  antiquity,  give  me  leave,  sir,  to  present  you 
with  some  clear  testimonies  to  the  contrary,  out  of  a 
few  manual  companions,  which,  with  some  others, 
I  seldom  leave  behind  me,  when  I  retire  into  the 
country. 

I  will  begin  with  St.  Clemens  Romanus,  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  Oxford  edition,  p.  16.  $.  8. 
[p.  152.  ed.  Coteler.]  Ol  \eiTovpyol  rtj?  -%apiTO?  TOV 
Qeou,  K.  r.  A.  The  minifiters  of  the  grace  of  God  spake 
of  repentance  by  the  Holy  Ghost  e.  From  hence  T 
proceed,  though  a  little  out  of  the  order  of  time,  to 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  in  his  book  entitled,  TV?  6 
o-co^o  /mei'09  TrXouo-to?,  which  was  published  at  Oxford 
1683,  with  an  appendix  of  fragments  added  to  it  by 
the  editor  of  immortal  name,  Dr.  Fell,  bishop  of  Ox 
ford.  The  first  testimonies  out  of  him  shall  be  those, 
in  which  he  mentions  the  word  XAPI2,  GRACE,  as 
in  his  prayer  or  hymn  (EI2  TON  IIAIAAFQrON) 
to  God,  in  honour  of  his  Master.  Christ,  p.  155,  156. 
[p.  313.  ed.  Potter.] 


Avros  (<i)^v  re  rrjv  0-771;  d<r<£aA<3s  dei 

XAPIN  re  rr]V  crrjv  drr^aAws  Trdpacr^f 

ITotety  re,  /cat  ras  (ras  Ae'yety  0eicis 

Alvelv  dei'  <re,  /cat  TOV  eK  2oS*  Travcrotybv  *This  epi- 

Tov  2oi  (Tvvoi'Ta  Kal  Trapovra  2ot  AOFON.  .riven  to 

GOD  by 
Philo,  in 

0  sovereiqn  Lord  of  mortal  men,  the  (river  and  his  hook 

/  /      77  J  J  £*    11        ,/.'  deOpificio 

bestower   oj    all  good   and  profitable    things,   grant  Mundi. 

e  [This  quotation  is  not  really  to  the  purpose  :  it  should  be 
translated,  The  ministers  of  the  grace  of  God  by  the  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  spake  of  repentance.'] 

1   [We  should  perhaps  read  avros  re  far)t>,  KU\  Ka\<as  dt\  /SioCy.] 


444  THE  LIFE  OF 

that  I  may  live  the  life  which  thou  hast  given  me 
in  safety,  and  give  me  thy  grace,  without  blame,  to 
practise  and  preach  thy  divine  word,  (and)  always 
to  praise  thee,  and  sthe  OMNISCIENT  AOFO2,  who 
is  of  thee,  who  is  coexistent  with  thee,  and  who  is 
present  to  thee.  So  p.  41,  42.  [c.  16.  p.  944.]  Oyrco? 

%$*)  TOV  2<wr»7jOO9  ciKovcrai  Ae-yo^ro?,  Sevpo  aicoXovOei  Mo<. 
yap  ai'ro?  ^rj  TW  KaQapuJ  Tyv  KapSiav  'ytVerat'   e<V 
pTOv  ^Isw^tjv,  Qeou  XAPI2  ov  Trapenr^verai.    So 

(presenting  an  humble  and  unprejudiced  soul]  he  ought 
to  hearken  to  our  Saviour,  speaking  thus :  Come, 
and  follow  me.  For  he  is  the  way  to  him,  who  hath 
a  pure  heart ;  but  into  an  impure  soul  the  grace  of 
God  doth  not  enter.  The  like  expression  hath  that 
great  Jewish  divine,  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Wis 
dom,  [i.  4.]  EiV  KctKOTe^voi'  '^fv^rji'  OVK  eiWAeiVeTcu  ^/cxpla. 

Wisdom  shall  not  enter  into  a  malicious  soul.  For 
the  doctrine  of  divine  grace  was  a  Jewish,  as  well 
as  a  Christian  doctrine,  as  may  be  easily  proved 
from  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  Jewish  apocryphal 
Fathers,  as  well  as  from  the  New  Testament,  and 
the  Fathers  of  the  most  early  times.  But  to  return 
to  the  word  XAPIZ ;  you  know  that,  as  well  as  gra 
tia,  it  signifies  a  free  or  gratuitous  gift,  or  benefac 
tion,  from  whence  ^apl^o/uat  signifies  to  give,  or  grant 
freely,  as  a  benefactor;  and  therefore  the  word  is 
used  by  Clemens  in  another  place,  to  signify  that 
spiritual  strength  and  assistance,  given  by  God  to 
those  who  desire  to  be  saved,  which  we  call  grace. 
Xa'|0i9  is  also  used  for  grace  by  an  elder  Father; 
St.  Ignatius,  in  several  of  his  Epistles,  as  in  that  to 

£  Or,  him  who  is  of  thee,  him  who  is  coexistent  with  thee,  and 
him  who  is  present  to  thee,  the  omniscient  AOFO2. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  445 


the  MagnesianS.  [c.8.  p.  19.]  Am  TOUTO  Kal  e 
eju.7rveo/u.evoi   VTTO  Tfjs   "^apiTOS  avrov,  etV  TO   Tr\rjpo(popri- 

Orjvai  rovs  a-n-eiOouvTas,  &c.  For  tills  cause,  being 
inspired  by  his  grace,  they  endured  persecution,  to 
persuade  unbelievers  that  there  is  one  God,  who  hath 
manifested  himself  by  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  who  is 
his  eternal  Logos,  not  proceeding  from  silence  ;  who 
in  all  things  pleased  him  who  sent  him.  So  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  [c.  11.  p.  37.] 
Kara  OeX^/xa  Se  Oeou  Ka.Tt]^iu>Qrjv,  OVK  CK  ervveifioTO?,  aXX' 
eK  -^dpiros  Qeou,  r/v  eu^o/nai  reXe/av  /not  ^oQrjvai.  J3ut 

I  was  made  worthy  according  to  the  will  of  God,  not 
that  I  ivas  conscious  (of  any  worthiness  in  myself), 
but  by  the  grace  of  God,  which  I  pray  may  be  given 
to  me  in  perfection.  So  in  the  same  Epistle,  [c.  9- 

p.  37-]  TLavra  ow  vfj.lv  ev  -^apiTi  7repi<T<Teveru>,  Let  all 
things  by  grace  abound  among  you.  And  in  the 
conclusion,  Xa'jot?  vij.lv,  eXeo?,  elprjvti,  Grace,  mercy,  and 
peace  be  to  you.  So  in  his  Epistle  to  Polycarp, 

[c.  1.  p.  39-]    ricfjOa/caXw  (re  ev  -^apiri  Qeov,  rj  €v§eSv<rai. 

I  beseech  thee  by  the  grace  of  God,  ivith  which 
thou  art  arrayed  or  endowed.  And  in  that  to  the 
Romans,  [in  tit.  p.  25.]  I  salute  you  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  —  who  have  been  perfectly  united  in 
all  his  commandments,  (Tre-TrXrjpui/jicvois  xa'j°£TO?  0eoi7 
aSiaKp'iTw?,}  filled  in  unity  with  the  grace  of  God. 

Among  other  Scripture  senses  of  the  word,  it  is 
certainly  used  in  this  for  grace,  as  in  2  Cor.  xii.  9- 

Kxu    e'tprjKe   /mot,  'Apca  croi    rj   ^api?  fJ.ov'    rj  yap  Swa/ui? 

IJLOV  ev  aaOeveia  TeXeiovrai.  And  he  said  unto  me,  My 
grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,  for  my  strength  is  made 
perfect  in  weakness.  And  I  think  it  cannot  be  taken 
in  any  other  sense  in  such  apostolical  prayers  as 
these,  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with 


Gal.  vi.  18. 

25- 


446  THE  LIFE  OF 

ijour  spirit ;  which  is  the  same  as,  The  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  (by  his  grace)  be  with  thy  spirit,  2  Tim. 
iv.  22. 

The  next  noble  testimony  for  grace,  which  T  shall 
produce  out  of  my  Clemens,  is  in  p.  98.  [c.  37.  p. 
956.]  where  he  saith,  that  Christ  took  upon  him  the 
nature  of  man,  and  willingly  suffered  as  man.  "Iva 
TTjOO?  r>]v  fifierepav  avQeveiav,  ou?  vyonrqa-e,  [ACT  pt]  9  el?  quay 

TTjOo?  Triv  eavTov  Svvaftiv  avTiju-erpqa-y.  That  accommo 
dating  himself  to  our  weakness,  whom  he  loved,  he 
might  proportionally  exalt  us  to  his  power.  So 

p.  90.  [c.  34.  p.  954.]  OVK  eTrterrayuei/ot  7rt]\iKOv  riva 
9r)<ravpov  ev  ocrTpaKivw  crKevei  jSacrra^o^cej/,  Suva/met  Qeov 
IlaTOO?,  KOI  ai'/zart  Qeov  ricu<5o?,  /ecu  $pocrq>  Tlvevju.a.'ros 

dylov  7r€piT€T€i^ia-fjLei'Oi ;  for  so  I  read  it,  instead  of 
7repiTeTei%i(r/j.evov.  Being  blind,  and  not  understanding 
what  treasure  we  carry  in  an  earthen  vessel,  being 
fortified  by  the  power  of  God  the  Father,  and  the  blood 
of  God  the  Son,  and  the  dew  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
So  likewise,  p.  106.  [c.  40.  p.  958.]  "Ecm  /mev  ovv  aSv- 

varov  '/<rft>9,  a0|0oa)9  ajroKO^sai  iraBrj  crvvTpcxpa,  aXXa 
Qeov  (Wa/xew?,  KOI  avOpMTreias  //cecr/a?,  /ecu  a$e 
{3oq9eias,  Kal  eiXiKpivous  /meTavotas,  Kai  (riive^ov 

KaropOovvrai.  Though  it  be  alike  impossible  presently 
to  mortify  the  passions  that  are  bred  up  with  us ;  yet 
by  the  POWER  of  God,  and  the  supplications  of  men, 
and  the  help  of  the  brethren,  and  a  sincere  repentance, 
and  continual  care,  they  are  rectified.  So  p.  57. 

(]c.  21.  p.  947-]  'O  ^e  Ki^no?   onroKpiveTai'   SIOTI   TO   ev 
aSvvaTOV,  Svvarov  Qeu>'    TraXtv   Kal   TOVTO  /me- 
<pia$  /meo-Tov  e<TTiv.  OTI  /ca$'  avTov  /u.ev  O.O-KWV  Kai 
ia.7rovoviu.evos    a.7ra9eiav    avQpwwos,    ovSev    avvei'    eav    8e 
0^X09  VTrepeinBviJiWV  TOVTOV  /ca<   otecrTroyoa/fw?,  T^ 
rjKy  TIJ<I  rov  Qeov  Swa/mewy  TrepiylveTai.    (3ov\o/mei>atv 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  447 

/uei>  yap  6  0eo9  raJ?  vj/in^af?  (rweiriTrvel.  ei  Se  cnroa-Taiev 
Tr/$  TrpoOvulas,  KCU  TO  SoQev  fK  Geov  Tlvev/ma  (rvvea-raXrj. 
TO  /wev  yap  a/coi'Ta?  crw^f,  ccrTi  fiia^ouevov'  TO  $e 

aiy>oi/yueVou?,  ^api^ouevov.  But  tlie  Lord  answered, 
What  is  impossible  with  men,  is  possible  with  God. 
Which  (saying)  also  is  full  of  much  wisdom,  because 
the  man,  who  strives  and  labours  by  himself  to  over 
come  his  affections,  profits  nothing  ;  but  if  he  plainly 
is  very  desirous  of  it,  and  useth  his  utmost  endeavours 
to  attain  it,  he  shall  attain  thereunto  by  the  accession 
of  God's  power,  (or  strength ;)  for  God  inspires 
willing  souls  ;  but  if  they  go  off" from  their  willingness, 
the  Spirit  of  God,  which  was  given  to  them,  will 
contract  itself,  (and  return.)  For  to  save  them  who 
are  unwilling  to  be  saved,  is  the  part  of  an  agent  that 
useth  force ;  but  to  save  those  who  choose  salvation,  is 
(xapifyuevou)  the  part  of  one,  who  freely  and  kindly 
grants  his  help. 

Sir,  you  cannot  but  observe  here,  that  though  the 
doctrine  of  God's  ordinary  grace  is  so  clearly  ex 
pressed  in  this  passage,  yet  it  is  as  plain  against 
irresistible  grace ;  for  God,  saith  he,  forces  no  man, 
but  only  helps  the  willing;  according  to  that  of 
St.  Ignatius,  Epist.  ad  Smyrn.  [c.  11.  p.  37-]  T 
yap  oWe?,  reX«a  KOI  (frpovetre.  BeXowri  yap 
evTrpacra-eiv  Geo?  eroifios  eiV  TO  Trapacr-^eiv.  As  ye  are 

perfect,  so  mind  things  that  are  perfect ;  for  God  is 
ready  to  assist  you  who  are  willing  to  do  good.  But 
a  plainer  passage  for  grace,  and  against  ordinary 
irresistible  grace,  cannot  be  found,  than  this  which 
follows,  p.  25,  26.  [c.  10.  p.  940.]  (EI  0EAEI2 

TEAEIOZ  TINEZeAI,)  OVK  apa  ™  TeX«oy  $v.  ovSev 
yap  reXe/ov  reXeiorepov'  ical  0&«os  TO,  et  0eX«f,  TO 

avre^ovcriov  T//?  Trpoa-fiiaXeyo/mevris  avrw  *fyv%fl 


448  THE  LIFE  OF 

up   f/V      f]   <HtQe<Tl$    W9    €\€vOep(f>'     €7Tl    Ge<T> 


i,  /cat  fieo/mevois  iV  of'TW?  W/O9  airrtoy  >7 
ov  yap  ANAFKAZEI  6  0eo9,  /3/a  ^a^ 
0e<w,  aAXa  TO??  T^TOi/crt  Tropi^ei,  Kal  TO??  aiTOvari 
Kal  TO??  KOOVOVCTIV  avoiyei.    rLit  0eXei?  ouv,  et  OVTWS  6e\eis, 
/cat  /u^  eavTOV  e^aTrara?,  KTtjcrai  TO  evSeov,  &C.     (IF  THOU 

WILT  BE  PERFECT.)  //<?  w.?«*  wo^  r/,5  j/e^  perfect  ;  for 
nothing  is  perfecter  than  that  which  is  perfect.  And 
what  was  spoken  by  God,  if  thou  wilt,  shelved  the 
freedom  of  the  soul  that  discoursed  with  him.  For 
man  had  a  power  of  choosing,  as  he  was  free  ;  hut 
giving  belongs  to  God,  as  he  is  the  Lord.  And  he  gives 
to  them  who  are  willing,  and  earnestly  strive  and  pray; 
that  in  this  sense  their  salvation  may  be  owing  to 
themselves.  For  God  compels  none  ;  for  compulsion 
agrees  not  with  him  ;  but  he  administers  to  them  that 
seek,  and  bestows  on  them  that  ask,  and  opens  to  them 
that  knock.  If  thou  wilt  therefore,  if  thou  wilt  in 
good  earnest  have  what  thou  wantest,  and  doest  not 
deceive  thyself,  &c.  These  authorities,  sir,  weigh 
more  with  me,  than  all  the  authorities  of  modern 
writers,  in  behalf  of  irresistible  grace  ;  which  you 
see  as  to  ordinary  grace  at  least,  was  not  the  divi 
nity  of  the  primitive  times,  though  the  doctrine  of 
divine  grace  was. 

You  cannot  also  but  observe,  how  many  words 
are  here  significative  of  grace,  as  $uva/uus,  a-weTmrvcl, 
SoOev  €K  Qeov  llvev/ma,  and  ^api^o/uievou,  the  word  which, 
I  told  you  above,  my  Clemens  used  in  another  place. 
Here  is  grace  in  various  terms,  and  the  Spirit  of 
God  the  author  of  grace,  mentioned  together  ;  and 
as  for  (&Wyou?,)  the  Scripture  word  for  grace,  that 
is  also  in  St.  Ignatius,  as  in  that  passage  of  his 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  449 

Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  ;  [c.  11.  p.  14.]  Let  me  be 
always  partaker  of  your  prayers,  that  I  may  be 
found  in  the  lot  of  the  Ephesian  Christians,  who  rof? 

aTTOcrroAo/?  TravTore  a-vvyvecrav  ev  Suva/met  'I^crou  XjEMOTOU, 

always  were  of  one  mind  with  the  apostles  in  the 
power  of  Jesus  Christ.  So  in  the  conclusion  of  his 
Epistle  to  the  Church  of  Smyrna  ;  "Eppaa-Oe  /ULOI  ev  Su- 
va/j.ei  TIvev/uLctTo?'  Farewell,  or  Be  strong  in  the  power 
of  the  Spirit;  and  afterward,  "E|0p«<r0e  ev  -^apirL  Oeov, 
Farewell  in  the  grace  of  God.  So  in  his  Epistle  to 

the  Romans,  [c.  3.  p.  26.]     Movov  /mot  <$vt>a/uuv 

e<T(a6ev  re  ical  e^coOev,  'iva  /my  /J.OVQV  \eyu>,  aXXa  KOL 

'iva  /ut.tj  /ULOVOV  Xe'yco/jtat  Xpi<TTiavo$,  aXXa  /caJ  evpeOco.    Only 

beg  strength  for  me,  both  from  within  and  from  with 
out,  that  I  may  not  only  talk,  but  resolve;  and  not 
only  be  called,  but  be  found  a  Christian.  So  like 
wise  in  his  Epistle  ad  Smyrn.  [c.  4.  p.  35.]  'AXX' 

eyyvs  /mavaipas,  eyyvs  Geou,  /nera^u  Otjptwv,  /meTn^v  Qeov' 
/movov  ev  TU>  ovo/maTi  ^Itjerov  Xpi<rTOv  etV  TO  <rvfj.7raOeiv 
avTw  TravTO.  VTTOfJLZVu),  avTOv  /u.e  evowa/ULOvvTOS,  TOV  TeXelov 
avOpwirov  yevofj.evov.  When  we  are  near  the  scaffold, 
we  are  near  to  God,  and  all  the  while  we  are  from 
the  wild  beasts  h,  so  long  we  are  from  God ;  only  I 
endure  all  things  for  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  to 
suffer  with  him,  he  strengthening  me,  who  was  made 
perfect  man. 

Grace  is  nlso  expressed  by  the  apostle,  by  the 
word  dvvafjii?,  and  fv^wa/movv,  Ephes.  iii.  16.  That 
he  would  grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  his 
glory,  (Swa/met  KpaTai<09ijvat,)  to  be  strengthened  with 
might  by  his  Spirit  in  the  inner  man,  Col.  i.  10,  11. 

h  [Rather,  while  we  are  in  the  middle  of  wild  beasts,  i.  e.  near 
to  them,  «'«»  are  near  to  God."] 


450  THE  LIFE  OF 

That  ye  might  walk  worthy  of  the  Lord  unto  all 
pleasing,  being  fruitful  in  every  good  work,  and 
increasing  in  the  knowledge  of  God;  (ev  Trda-y 
Swdfj-ei  SvvaiJ.oviJ.evoi)  strengthened  with  all  might, 
according  to  his  glorious  power,  unto  all  patience  and 
longsujfering  with  joy  fulness.  So  Phil.  iv.  13.  Tldvra 
la-)(yw  ei>  TO)  ev^vva/jLOvvri  /ue  XpicrTui,  I  can  do  all 

things  through  Christ  which  strengthened  me.     To 

which     I    may    add,    'Ey(Wa/xou    ev    Ty    -^dptn    rfj   ev 

Xpia-rw  'Itjarov,  2  Tim.  ii.  1.  where  both  words  are 
put  together  ;  Thou  therefore,  my  son,  be  strong  in 
the  grace  that  is  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  next  authority 
I  shall  produce  for  the  divine  grace  is  out  of  Cle 
mens,  and  of  the  same  nature  with  what  I  quoted 
before  out  of  p.  90.  it  is  p.  105.  [c.  40.  p.  957.]  TOUT' 
ea-ri  /j.erayvS)vai,  This  is  to  repent,  to  grieve  for  sins 
past,  and  to  beg  forgiveness  of  God  for  them  ;  who 
only  by  his  mercy  can  make  things  done,  as  if  they 

had  not  been  done,  '  EXeoo  T<W  Trap  avrov  /ecu  opocrw  II  m'- 
/-taro?  a-TraXervJ/cu  ra  Trpotj/mapTrjiuieva,  By  the  mercy 

which  is  from  him,  and  the  dew  (that  is,  the  grace)  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  to  wash  away  our  past  offences. 

To  these  may  be  added  those  testimonies,  which 
speak  of  God  and  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit  dwell 
ing  in  us,  p.  90.  [c.  33.  p.  954.] 


<pa(rt$,    eiva    e/?   TO    KOIVOV   TOVTO    TraiSevrypiov 
ovvr]6u>iJ.ev'   a\X'  evSov   6    /CJOUTTTO?   fvoucel   Ylartjp, 
TOVTOV   ITar?  6  inrep  f](J.u>v  aTToOavutv,  Kal  jtce' 

O-TCI?.  This  habit  (of  poverty)  with  which  we  are  out 
wardly  clothed,  is  the  occasion  of  our  coming  into  this 
woi*ld,  that  we  may  enter  into  this  common  school  ;  but 
the  Father  dwells  invisibly  within  us,  and  his  Son  who 
died  for  us,  and  rose  again  with  us.  P.  102.  [c.  39- 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  451 

p.  957.]        A»  r/9  TO  re ?;  St*  ayvoiav  *]  Trepla-Tacrtv 

aKoixriov,  jixera  TTJV  arcfipayiSa  /ecu  T>;I'  XvTpaxriv  7repnreT>]<; 
TOIS  a/Jiaf)Tr]iJ.a<JLV,  17  TrapaTTTCo/u-acriv,  wg  inravrjveyQai  re- 
\eov'  OUTOS  KaTe~Y^(piiTTai  7rafTa7ra<r/i/  VTTO  TOV  Qeov' 
Travr\  yap  rw  /uer'  a\r)0eia$  e£  o\r]$  T/??  Kap 
•yaj'Tt  -TTjOO?  TOV  Qeov  avewyaa-iv  at  Ovpai,  KU\ 
TjOtcracr/aei/o?  Tlar^jO  viov  aXrjOws  /meTavoovvTa.  f]  Se 
fj.GTa.voia.  TO  /mt]K€Tt  TO??  avTOis  evo-^ov  eivai,  aXX'  ap^rjv 
€Kpi(£a>crai  rJy?  ^v^?,  e(f)  o??  eavrov  KaTeyvw  OdvaTov 
.  TOVTWV  yap  avaipeQevTdov,  avOts  ei$  are  0eo? 

If  any  one,  either  through  ignorance, 
or  unavoidable  misfortunes,  after  baptism  and  forgive 
ness  of  sins,  falls  into  sins  and  iniquities,  so  as  to  be 
entirely  carried  away  with  them ;  such  an  one  i<* 
utterly  condemned  by  God.  But  whosoever  truly 
turns  to  God  with  all  his  heart,  has  heaven-gates 
opened  to  him,  and  the  Father  most  gladly  receives 
his  penitent  son.  Notv  a  true  repentance  is  a  care 
never  to  relapse  into  the  same  miscarriages,  for  which 
he  has  condemned  himself  worthy  of  death,  but  totally 
to  root  them  out  of  his  mind.  For  these  being  taken 
away,  God  will  again  dwell  in  tliee.  This  doctrine  of 
the  moral  shechinah,  or  of  God's  and  Christ's  dwelling 
in  righteous  souls,  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  grace,  is  also 
most  clearly  expressed  by  St.  Barnabas  in  his  Epistle, 
cap.  v.  p.  33.  [c.  6.  p.  19-]  Behold  therefore,  saith  he, 
we  are  created  anew,  as  the  prophet  speaks  in  another 
place  ;  Behold,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  take  away  from 
them  (that  is,  from  those  whom  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  foresaw  under  the  Gospel)  hearts  of  stone,  and 
put  into  them  hearts  of  flesh,  because  he  was  to  l>e 
manifested  in  the  flesh,  KO.\  ev  q/u.iv  KaToiKeiv,  and  to 
dwell  in  ?/s.  For,  my  brethren,  KaToiKtjTtjpiov 
?,  the  duelling-place  of  our  hearts  is 

Gg*2 


452  THE  LIFE  OF 

TM  Kvpica,  a  holy  temple  to  the  Lord.  And  to  the  same 
purpose  in  another  place,  cap.  xvi.  p.  98.  [p.  49.] 
Observe  how  the  temple  of  the  Lord  is  gloriously 
built,  and  learn  in  what  manner  we,  who  have  re 
ceived  remission  of  our  sins,  and  put  our  trust  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  are  renovated,  or  made  new, 
and  created  again  from  the  beginning.  Because, 

ev  TW  Ka.TOiK)]Tr]piu>  rj/uuiv  a\tjOu>g  6  0eo?  KdTOiKei  ev  YIIUV, 

God  truly  resides  in  our  dwelling-place,  that  is,  in 
us.  And  again,  CO  KOI  Tro6£>v  a-u>6fjvai,  /SXeVet  OVK  els 
TOV  avOpcaTrov,  aXX'  et?  TOV  ev  avrw  evoiKOvvra,  KOI  \a\ovv- 
Ta  ev  avro).  He  that  desires  to  be  saved,  looks  not  at 
the  man,  but  at  him  that  dwelleth  in  him,  and  speak- 
eth  in  him.  And,  Tour'  e<m  Trvev/ut-ariKog  vaos  OIKO§O- 
fj.ov/j.evos  TW  KIYK&>,  This  is  the  spiritual  temple  built  to 
the  Lord.  So  in  the  second  Epistle,  for  its  great 
antiquity,  attributed  to  St.  Clemens,  [c.  9-  p.  188.] 

Aei"  ovv  jj/aa?,  a>?  vaov  0eou  (pvXdarcreiv  Tt]v  crdpKa.      It  IS 

our  duty  to  keep  the  body  as  the  temple  of  God.  And 
it  is  an  allusion  to  this  doctrine  of  the  moral  she- 
chinah,  or  spiritual  temple,  that  our  Clemens,  in  the 
46th  page,  [c.  18.  p.  945.]  saith,  according  to  the 
doctrine  of  his  colleague  in  the  apostleship,  that  no 
one  shall  be  saved  or  perish,  for  having  a  beauti 
ful  or  deformed  body,  but  that  he  shall  be  saved 
who  useth  his  body  chastely,  and  according  to  the 
laws  of  God ;  but  he  that  hath  defiled  the  temple  of 
God,  him  shall  God  destroy.  So  St.  Pacianus,  bishop 
of  Barcelona,  in  his  Paciani  Parcenes.  ad  Pcenit.  Ne 
violaveritis  (inquit)  templum  Domini,  quod  estis  vos,  et 
de  fornicatore  apostolus  dicit,  Qui  autem  templum  Dei 
violaverit,  disperdet  ilium  Deus. 

How  this  supernatural  principle  of  grace,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  author  of  it,  was  in  our  first  parents 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  453 

before  their  fall,  and  how  they  lost  it  by  their  fall, 
and  their  sinful  posterity,  in  and  by  them,  and  how 
we  are  restored  to  it  by  the  Gospel,  is  excellently 
set  forth  by  the  same  {  St.  Pacianus,  in  his  sermon  to 

i  Accipite  ergo,  dulcissimi,  homo  ante  baptismum  in  qua  morte 
sit  positus  ;  scitis  certe  illud  antiquum,  quod  *Adam  terrenae  ori-  *  Clemen* 
gini  prsestitutus  sit,  quee  utique  damnatio  legem  illi  aeternse  mortis  iu!e^?™c 
imposuit  et  omnibus  ab  eo  posteris,  quos  lex  una  retinebat  ;  hsec  DIVES, 

mors  in  genus  omne  dominata  est,  ab  Adam  usque  ad  Moysen.  *c-  p.'  I2?- 

Vise,  mquit, 
Per  Moysen  vero  unus  tantum  populus  electus  est,  semen  scilicet  nils  quia  in 


Abrah.se,  si  mandata  iustitiae  servare  potuisset.    Interea  nos  omnes  v* 

amerunt. 
sub  peccato  tenebamur,  ut  fructus  essemus  mortis  ;   siliquarum  Sic  etiam 

escis  et  porcorum  custodiae  destinati,  i.  e.  operibus  immundis,  per^ca'°,  . 
malos  angelos,  quibus  dominantibus,  nee  facere  licuit  nee  scire  cemur  se- 

iustitiam.     Parere  naturalibus  dominis  res  ipsa  cogebat.     Ab  hiscwwrf"!". 

peccati  si- 

potestatibus,  et  ab  hac  morte,  qualiter  liberati  sumus,  attendite.  militudi- 
Adam  postquam  peccavit,  (ut  retuli,)  dicente  tune  Domino,  Terra  nem' 
es,  et  in  terram  ibis,  addictus  est  morti.  Haec  addictio  in  genus 
omne  defluxit  :  omnes  enim  peccaverunt,  ipsa  jam  urgente  natura, 
sicut  apostolus  dicit.  Quia  per  unum  hominem  peccatum  introi- 
vit,  et  per  delictum  mors,  et  sic  in  omnes  homines  devenit,  in  quo 
omnes  peccaverunt.  Dominatum  est  ergo  peccatum,  cujus  vincu- 
lis  quasi  captivi  trahebamur  ad  mortem  ;  mortem,  scilicet,  sempi- 
ternam.  Hoc  vero  peccatum  ante  legis  tempora,  nee  intellige- 
batur,  sicut  apostolus  dicit,  donee  enim  lex  poneretur,  peccatum 
in  mundo  non  habebatur,  hoc  est,  non  videbatur  ;  ad  legis  adven- 
tum  revixit.  Apertum  est  enim  ut  videretur,  verum  frustra,  quia 
id  prope  nemo  servabat.  Dicebat  enim  lex,  Non  mcechaberis, 
non  occides,  non  eoncupisces,  tamen  concupiscentia  cum  omnibus 
vitiis  permanebat  :  ita  peccatum  istud  ante  legem  occulto  gladio 
interfecit  hominem,  lege,  districto.  Quoe  igitur  spes  homini  ? 
Sine  lege  ideo  periit,  quia  peccatum  videre  non  potuit,  et  in  lege 
ideo  quia  in  id  ipsum,  quod  videbat,  incurrit.  -  Et  has  sunt 
nuptise  Domini  uni  carni  conjunctee,  ut  secundum  illud  magnum 
sacramentuin,  fierent  duo  in  came  una,  Christus  et  ecclesia.  Ex 
his  nuptiis  Christiana  plebs  nascitur,  veniente  desuper  Spiritu  Do 
mini,  nostrarumque  animarum  substantise  superfuso,  et  adinixto 
protinus  semente  coelesti,  visceribus  matris  inolescimus,  alvoque 


454  THE  LIFE  OF 

the  catechumens,  who  wrote  before  the  Pelagian 
controversy  troubled  the  peace  of  the  church. 
Hearken  therefore,  my  dearly  beloved,  in  what  death 
man  lies  before  baptism.  Surely  you  know  that 
old  saying,  that  Adam  was  doomed  to  an  earthly 
original,  which  condemnation  put  him  under  the 
law  of  eternal  death,  and  all  his  posterity,  who  were 
all  subject  to  one  law.  This  death  reigned  over  the 
whole  kind,  from  Adam  even  to  Moses.  But  by 
Moses  one  people  only  was  chosen,  namely,  the  seed 
of  Abraham,  if  they  could  have  kept  the  righteous 
commandments.  In  the  mean  time  we  were  all  held 
under  sin,  that  we  might  be  the  fruits  of  death, 
destined  to  feed  on  husks,  and  to  keep  swine,  that 
is,  to  unclean  works  by  the  evil  angels,  who  being 
our  riders,  we  neither  could  do  nor  know  what  was 
right.  The  condition  we  were  in,  forced  us  to  obey 
our  natural  lords.  And  now  hear  how  we  were 
delivered  from  these  powers  and  this  death.  Adam, 

ej'us  effugi  vivificamur  in  Christo.  Uude  apostolus  :  Primus  Adam 
in  animam  viventem,  novissimus  Adam  in  Spiritum  vivificantem.  Sic 
general  Christus  in  ecclesia,  per  suos  sacerdotes,  ut  idem  aposto 
lus  :  in  Christo  autem  ego  vos  genui.  Atque  ita  Christi  semen,  id 
est,  Dei  Spiritus,  novum  hominem  alvo  matris  agitatum,  et  partu 
fontis  exceptum  manibus  sacerdotis  effundit,  fide  tamen  pvonuba. 
Neque  enim  aut  insertus  in  ecclesiam  videbitur,  qui  non  credidit, 
aut  genitus  a  Christo,  qui  Spiritum  ipse  non  recepit.  Credendum 
est  igitur  posse  nos  nasci.  Sic  enim  ait  Philippus,  Si  credis, 
potes.  Recipiendus  est  Christus,  ut  generat,  quia  Johannes  apo 
stolus  dicit,  Quotquot  eum  receperunt,  dedit  illis  potestatem  filios 
Dei  Jieri.  Hi»c  autem  compleri  alias  nequeunt,  nisi  lavacri,  chris- 
matis,  et  antistitis  sacraunento.  Lavacro  enim  peccata  purgantur, 
chrismate  S.  Spiritus  superfunditur,  utraque  vero  ista  manu,  et 
ore  antistitis  impetramus.  Atque  ita  totus  homo  renascitur,  et 
renovatur  in  Christo. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  455 

after  he  had  sinned,  as  I  have  told  you,  was  doomed 
to  death  by  the  Lord,  who  said,  Earth  thou  art, 
and  to  earth  thou  shalt  return.  This  condemna 
tion  descended  upon  all  his  posterity :  for  (sinful) 
nature  now  urging,  all  men  sinned,  as  the  apostle 
saith ;  For  by  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world, 
and  death  by  sin ;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all 
men,  for  that  all  have  sinned.  Sin  therefore  had 
dominion  over  us,  and  we  were  dragged  in  his 
chains,  as  captives  to  death,  I  mean  to  death  eternal. 
But  neither  was  this  sin  understood  before  the  times 
of  the  law,  as  the  apostle  saith ;  for  until  the  law 
was  given,  sin  was  not  in  the  world;  that  is,  it 
was  not  discerned,  (but)  revived  when  the  law  came. 
It  was  then  manifested,  that  it  might  be  seen,  but 
in  vain,  because  almost  none  kept  the  law.  For  the 
law  said,  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,  Thou 
shalt  do  no  murder,  Thou  shalt  not  covet;  yet  con 
cupiscence,  with  all  the  vices  attending  it,  remained. 
Thus  sin  slew  man  before  the  law  with  a  hidden 
sword,  under  the  law  by  a  drawn  one.  What  hope 
then  had  man?  Without  the  law  he  perished,  be 
cause  he  could  not  see  sin,  but  under  the  law,  because 

he  ventured  upon  what  he  did  see. And  this  is 

the  marriage  of  the  Lord  with  one  flesh,  that  ac 
cording  to  that  great  mystery,  two  might  become 
one  flesh,  Christ  and  the  church.  Of  this  marriage 
the  Christian  people  are  born,  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  coming  down  from  above,  being  poured  forth 
upon  the  substance  of  our  souls,  the  heavenly  seed 
being  also  mixed  with  it,  we  grow  in  the  belly  of 
our  mother,  and  being  delivered  from  her  womb, 
are  quickened  in  Christ.  Whence  the  apostle  saith, 


456  THE  LIFE  OF 

The  first  Adam  was  made  a  living  soul,  the  last 
Adam  a  quickening  spirit.  Thus  Christ  begets  in 
the  church  by  his  priests,  as  the  same  apostle  saith ; 
But  I  have  begotten  you  in  Christ.  And  thus 
Christ's  seed,  that  is,  God's  Spirit,  furnishes  out 
the  new  man  who  was  prepared  in  the  womb  of  his 
mother,  and  received  from  the  birth  of  the  font  by 
the  hands  of  the  priest,  yet  by  the  assistance  of 
faith.  For  neither  will  he  seem  to  be  admitted  into 
the  church  who  has  not  believed,  or  to  be  begotten  by 
Christ  who  has  not  received  the  Spirit.  We  must 
therefore  believe  that  it  is  possible  for  us  to  be  born. 
For  so  said  Philip,  If  thou  believest,  thou  mayest. 
Christ  is  to  be  received,  that  he  may  beget,  because 
the  apostle  John  saith,  As  many  as  received  him,  to 
them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God. 
But  these  things  cannot  be  accomplished  otherwise 
than  by  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  and  chrism,  and 
the  bishop.  For  they  are  purged  from  sin  by  bap 
tism  ;  by  chrism  the  Holy  Ghost  is  shed  upon  them ; 
and  both  these  we  obtain  by  the  hand  and  mouth  of 
the  bishop.  And  so  the  new  man  is  born  again, 
and  is  renewed  in  Christ. 

Feb.  3,  1744. 
HONOURED  SIR, 

WHAT  you  see  here  in  the  beginning  of  this 
sheet,  is  the  passage  of  St.  Pacian  continued  from 
the  end  of  the  last.  It  happened  to  be  preserved  in 
a  loose  paper,  into  which  it  was  transcribed  for  me 
out  of  that  Father's  works,  and  from  thence  copied 
over  again  in  the  sheets  which  were  burnt  in  the 
sudden  devouring  fire,  that  by  night  consumed,  in 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  457 

most  dreadful  manner,  the  printer's  dwelling-house 
and  warehouses,  and  all  that  he  had  therein k.  It  is 
no  little  trouble  to  me  to  think,  that  I,  who  ought 
to  deny  you  nothing,  cannot  comply  with  your 
desire  in  repairing  what  is  lost  in  the  burnt  copy. 
Neither  the  short  time  the  bookseller  hath  taken 
to  publish  your  most  excellent  Life  of  the  Bishop, 
nor  my  ill  condition  of  health,  will  now  suffer  me  to 
undergo  such  a  labour,  which  were  I  able  to  endure, 
I  should  undertake  with  mighty  pleasure,  to  testify 
thereby  the  great  desire  and  many  obligations  I  have 
to  serve  you,  in  whose  conversation  and  friendship 
I  have  been  very  happy  for  so  many  years.  There 
were  too  many  particulars  in  the  lost  sheets  for  me 
to  repair  at  this  time,  with  the  same  pains  and  study 
as  I  formerly  did.  If  you  can  but  remember  the 
half  of  them,  you  will,  I  am  sure,  excuse  me :  pray, 
sir,  do  but  recollect  upon  how  many  subjects  I  was 
invited  to  discourse  upon  this  very  citation  of 
St.  Pacian,  concerning  the  way  whereby  fallen  man 
recovers  the  supernatural  principle  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  by  which  we  are  regenerated  and  made  new 
men.  If  you  can  remember  no  more  than  what 
from  thence  I  discoursed  on  the  subject  of  the 
moral  shechinah  from  the  New  Testament,  and  the 


k  [This  fire  took  place  in  Bowyer's  printing-house,  Jan.  29, 
1713.  Nelson's  Life  of  Bull  and  the  works  which  accompanied 
it  had  been  all  printed,  or  nearly  so,  in  1712.  This  fire  consumed 
the  whole  of  the  Life,  and  one  thousand  copies  of  eighteen  sheets 
of  the  Works.  There  is  an  advertisement  of  Bowyer  extant,  dated 
Feb.  13,  in  which  he  expresses  his  hopes  to  reprint  the  lost  part 
in  a  fortnight's  time  :  but  it  appears  from  the  letter  of  Dr.  Hickes, 
that  what  he  had  written  was  irrecoverably  lost.  Nichols's  Anec 
dotes,  vol.  i.  p.  55,  &c.] 


458  THE  LIFE  OF 

Book  of  Wisdom ;  of  receiving  the  Spirit  by  the 
ministration  and  prayer  of  the  priest  or  bishop  in 
baptism,  and  by  the  imposition  of  the  bishop's 
hands,  and  by  chrism,  and  in  discoursing  of  which 
I  gave  you  my  reasons,  for  which  I  thought  it  a 
rite  of  the  apostolical  age,  and  wished  it  restored 
to  the  church  :  if  you  can  also  call  to  mind  what 
I  was  invited  to  write  of  the  dignity  of  the  episcopal 
office,  and  ministry,  from  St.  Pacian's  words  in l  the 
margin,  and  what  I  wrote  of  repentance,  by  which 
we  recovered  the  Spirit  again,  when  we  had  lost  it 
by  deadly  sin  after  baptism  and  confirmation,  I  hope 
you  will  discharge  me  from  the  labour  of  making 
my  discourses  upon  them  again.  And  if  you  can 
remember  what  I  wrote  on  the  fourth  or  second 
apocryphal  book  of  Esdras,  upon  observing  how 
the  learned  bishop  passed  over  the  testimonies  and 
authorities  of  it,  both  in  the  enclosed  MS.  and  in 
his  sermon  of  the  middle  state ;  and  also  can  call  to 
remembrance  the  most  clear  testimonies  I  collected 
from  my  little  book  of  Clemens,  concerning  the  holy 
and  blessed  Trinity,  and  the  eternal  generation  of  the 
Son,  begotten  not  made ;  and  his  equality  in  essence 
with  the  Father,  and  of  the  deity  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  were  not  observed  by  the  bishop,  neither  in 
his  Fidei  Nicence  Defensio,  nor  in  his  answer  to 
Gilbert  Clerke,  nor  by  Dr.  Grabe  in  his  additions 
to  the  former  book  :  I  doubt  not  then,  sir,  but  you 
will,  both  in  kindness  and  justice,  excuse  me  from 

1  Sic  generat  Christus,  per  suos  sacerdotes.  Hsec  autem  alias 
compleri  nequeunt  nisi  lavacri,  chrismatis,  ct  antistitis  sacra- 
men  to.  Lavacro  enim  peccata  purgantur,  chrismate  S.  Spiritus 
euperfunditur,  utraque  vero  ista  manu  et  ore  antistitis  impe- 
trainus. 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  459 

the  pains  of  recomposing,  and  collecting  again,  being 
not  in  a  condition  to  study,  and  bear  intense  think 
ing.  But  were  I  able  to  do  what  you  desire,  the 
consideration  of  serving  you  would  make  the  pains 
my  greatest  pleasure.  But  under  the  disability  I 
now  am,  I  am  sure,  sir,  your  candour  and  tender 
regard  for  me  will  oblige  you  to  accept  the  good 
will  for  the  deed,  and  the  desire  to  serve  you  for 
the  performance,  from 

Your  much  obliged 

and  humble  servant, 

GEO.  HICKES. 

LXXXV.  The  sum  and  substance  of  the  fifth  The  sum 
discourse  is,  that  there  was  a  covenant  of  life  made  stance  of 
with  man  in  his  state  of  innocency,  and  not,  as  some 
pretend,  a  law  imposed  upon  him,  established  only 
by  a  threatening.  For  the  prohibition  given  to 
Adam  concerning  the  not  eating  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge,  is  ushered  in  with  this  express  dona 
tion  or  grant  of  God,  that  he  might  freely  eat 
of  all  the  rest  of  the  trees  in  paradise,  the  tree  of 
life  not  excepted.  Now  it  is  certain,  the  tree  of 
life  was  so  called,  because  it  was  either  a  sacrament 
and  divine  sign,  or  else  a  natural  means  of  immor 
tality.  And  the  very  commination  itself,  in  the  day 
thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die,  manifestly 
implies  a  promise ;  this  consequence  being  most 
firm,  God  threateneth  death  to  man  if  he  eat  of  the 
forbidden  fruit ;  therefore  he  promiseth  life  if  he  do 
not  eat.  A  full  state  and  resolution  of  this  matter 
is  given  by  our  author  from  Grotius,  in  his  approved 
book,  de  Satisfactione,  &c.  The  foundation  being 
thus  laid  in  the  proof  that  Adam  should  never  have 
died  if  he  had  not  sinned,  and  that  if  he  had  continued 


460  THE  LIFE  OF 

obedient,  he  should  have  enjoyed  an  everlasting  life ; 
he  thinks  it  easy  to  collect  from  thence,  that  this 
life  should  not,  nay  could  not,  in  any  congruity,  be 
perpetuated  in  the  earthly  paradise,  and  that  there 
fore  the  man  was  in  the  design  of  God,  after  a  certain 
period  of  time,  to  have  been  translated  to  a  higher 
state,  that  is,  a  celestial  bliss ;  and  that  it  farther 
readily  follows,  that  man,  being  thus  designed  for 
such  a  supernatural  end,  must  be  supposed  gra 
dually  at  least  to  have  been  furnished  by  God  with 
means  proportioned  thereunto,  which  were  certain 
supernatural  gifts  and  powers  which  we  commonly 
call  original  righteousness.  The  sense  of  the  church 
of  God  upon  this  subject  he  reduceth  to  two  propo 
sitions,  which,  he  says,  were  constantly  asserted  and 
believed  by  the  primitive  Fathers. 

I.  "  That  paradise  was  to  Adam  a  type  of  heaven ; 
"  and  that  the  never-ending  life  of  happiness  which 
"  was  promised  to  our  first  parents,  if  they  had  con- 
"  tinued  obedient,  and  had  grown  up  to  perfection 
"  under  that    economy  wherein  they  were   placed, 
"  should  not  have  continued  in  the  earthly  paradise, 
"  but  only  have  commenced  there,  and   been  per- 
"  petuated  in  a  higher  state ;  that  is  to  say,  after 
"  such  a  trial  of  their  obedience,  as  should   seem 
"  sufficient  to  the  divine  wisdom,  they  should  have 
"  been  translated  from  earth  to  heaven." 

II.  "  That  our  first  parents,  besides  the  seeds  of 
"  natural  virtue  and  religion  sown  in  their  minds  in 
"  their  very  creation,  and  besides  the  natural  inno- 
"  cence  and  rectitude  wherein  also  they  were  created, 
"  were  endowed  with  certain  gifts  and  powers  super- 
"  natural,  infused  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  in 
"  these  gifts  their  perfection  consisted." 

Now  because  these  two  theses  seemed  to  him  the 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  461 

two  main  pillars  of  the  catholic  doctrine  concerning 
original  sin,  he  giveth  an  ample  demonstration  of 
them  out  of  the  writings  of  the  ancients. 

The  first  thesis  is  confirmed  by  the  testimonies  of 
Justin  Martyr,  Tatian,  Irenseus,  Theophilus  bishop 
of  Antioch,  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  Me 
thodius,  St.  Athanasius,  St.  Basil,  all  which  authors 
lived  before  the  rise  of  Pelagianism,  which  makes 
their  testimonies  the  more  considerable.  Nay,  the 
ancient  primitive  church  was  so  certain  of  this  truth, 
that  she  inserted  the  article  into  her  public  offices 
and  prayers,  as  appeareth  from  the  prayer  of  conse 
cration  of  the  eucharist,  in  the  Liturgy  of  Clemens, 
in  these  words  concerning  Adam :  m  When  thou 
broughtest  him  into  the  paradise  of  pleasure,  thou 
gavest  him  free  leave  to  eat  of  all  the  other  trees, 
and  forbadest  him  to  taste  of  one  only  FOR  THE 
HOPE  OF  BETTER  THINGS  i  that,  if  he  kept  the 
commandments,  he  might  receive  IMMORTALITY, 
as  the  reward  of  his  obedience.  This  Liturgy 
is  the  most  ancient  now  extant,  and  certainly 
older  than  the  Pelagian  heresy,  by  one  whole  age 
at  least.  It  is  confessed,  that  the  doctors  of  the 
church,  who  flourished  after  the  Pelagian  heresy  was 
broached,  all  maintained  the  same  hypothesis  ;  yet, 
for  fuller  satisfaction,  testimonies  are  produced  from 
St.  Austin,  Prosper,  Fulgentius,  and  Petrus  Diaco- 
nus,  who  are  known  to  have  been  the  chiefest  anta 
gonists  of  Pelagius.  These  allegations  are  brought 
forth,  not  only  upon  the  account  of  their  authority, 
but  for  the  sake  of  those  evident  reasons,  which 
those  ancient  writers  urged  for  the  demonstration  of 
the  point  asserted. 

'»  Const.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  cap.  12. 


462  THE  LIFE  OF 

The  second  thesis  he  advanceth  as  a  consequent 
of  the  former,  for  the  means  ought  to  be  propor 
tioned  and  suited  to  the  end.  If  therefore  our  first 
parents  had  been  designed  only  for  an  earthly  feli 
city,  a  supernatural  gift  would  have  been  useless,  or 
at  least  unnecessary  to  them ;  and  so  on  the  con 
trary,  if  they  were  designed  for  a  celestial  bliss,  it 
necessarily  folio weth,  that  they  were  furnished  with 
powers  suited  to  the  obtaining  of  such  a  supernatu 
ral  end.  But  because  this  latter  thesis  is  chiefly 
questioned  by  learned  men,  he  proveth  this  assertion 
from  the  writings  of  the  ancients,  and  that  some 
what  more  copiously  than  he  had  done  the  former. 
The  testimonies  he  useth  to  this  purpose  are  those 
of  Justin  Martyr,  Tatian,  Irenseus,  the  author  of  the 
ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Origen, 
the  author  of  the  five  dialogues  among  the  works  of 
Athanasius,  St.  Athanasius  himself,  the  great  Basil, 
St.  Cyril,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Hierom,  St.  Austin,  Pros 
per,  and,  lastly,  Fulgentius.  After  this,  he  fully 
answers  an  objection  made  by  the  Socinians,  in  order 
to  weaken  the  credit  and  authority  of  these  testi 
monies  ;  for  they  placing  the  likeness  and  image  of 
God,  after  which  the  first  man  is  said  to  be  created, 
only  in  his  dominion  over  the  other  creatures  in  this 
visible  world,  do  endeavour  effectually  to  destroy 
that  notion  of  God's  image,  which  runs  through  all 
the  testimonies  that  are  produced,  and  which  those 
Fathers  made  to  consist  especially  in  those  super 
natural  powers,  gifts,  or  graces,  wherewith  they  sup 
pose  him  to  be  furnished  in  his  creation.  And  that 
these  supernatural  perfections  were  a  chief  part  of 
the  image  of  God,  after  which  the  first  man  is  said 
to  be  created,  is  not  the  fancy  of  Christian  writers, 


DR.  GEORGE  BULL.  463 

but  was  a  notion  received  and  acknowledged  in  the 
Jewish  church  many  years  before  our  Saviour's  ap 
pearance  in  the  flesh  ;  as  is  manifest  from  the  author 
of  the  Book  of  Wisdom,  and  from  Philo  the  Jew, 
who  bordered  upon  the  very  age  of  our  Saviour's 
incarnation.  Though  if  we  should  lay  aside  that 
reverence  which  is  due  to  so  consentient  a  judgment 
of  the  church  of  God,  both  before  and  after  Christ, 
yet  the  apostle  St.  Paul  hath  evidence  sufficient,  if 
well  considered,  to  set  us  right  in  this  point. 

Moreover  farther,  he  answereth  an  objection  made 
by  Grotius,  against  this  doctrine  of  the  primitive 
Fathers ;  and  in  vindication  of  them,  he  proposes 
himself  some  arguments  taken  from  the  history  of 
the  primitive  state  of  the  first  man,  as  it  is  delivered 
by  Moses  himself,  which,  if  not  demonstrative,  are 
yet  far  more  considerable  than  any  thing  that  hath 
been  produced  in  defence  of  the  contrary  novel 
opinion.  He  then  proceeds  to  shew  the  great  use  of 
this  doctrine,  in  three  considerable  instances,  viz. 
First,  In  determining  the  nature  of  that  original 
righteousness,  which  was  the  happy  portion  of  the 
protoplast.  Secondly,  Tn  evincing  the  absolute  ne 
cessity  of  divine  grace  in  man  fallen,  in  order  to  the 
performance  of  that  righteousness  which  is  required 
unto  his  salvation.  Thirdly,  Tn  assuring  us  how 
unjust  that  charge  is  which  some  bold  men  have 
fastened  on  all  the  Christian  writers  before  Pelagius, 
especially  on  those  who  flourished  within  the  three 
first  centuries ;  namely,  that  they  held  the  same 
doctrine  which  was  afterwards  condemned  by  the 
church  as  heretical  in  Pelagius,  asserting  a  sufficiency 
of  man's  natural  powers  in  his  lapsed  estate,  without 
the  grace  of  God,  to  perform  those  things  which 


464       THE  LIFE  OF  DR.  GEORGE  BULL. 

conduce  to  eternal  life :  and  with  these  three  uses 
our  author  concludeth  this  excellent  treatise. 

I  have  nothing  more  to  add  but  my  earnest  prayers 
whole.  to  God,  that,  since  he  hath  by  his  grace  enabled  me 
to  bring  this  work  to  a  conclusion,  he  would  farther 
vouchsafe,  by  his  blessing,  to  make  it  instrumental 
towards  the  promoting  his  honour  and  glory  in  the 
world.  That  it  may  in  some  measure  tend  to  re 
vive  that  truly  commendable  zeal,  for  which  the  first 
ages  of  Christianity  were  so  deservedly  famous ; 
"  when  they  that  were  baptized  continued  stead- 
"  fastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  in 
"  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayer  ;  praising  God, 
"  and  doing  good  to  all  men." 

TO  THE  MOST  HOLY  AND  UNDIVIDED  TRINITY, 
GOD  THE  FATHER,  SON,  AND  HOLY  GHOST, 
BE  ASCRIBED  ALL  HONOUR  AND  GLORY, 
ADORATION  AND  WORSHIP,  BOTH  NOW  AND 
FOR  EVER.  AMEN. 

December  3  i , 
1712. 


END  OF  THE  LIFE. 


PRINCIPAL  EVENTS 

IN   THE 

LIFE    OF    BISHOP    BULL. 


A.  D.    Page. 

Born  at  Wells,   March  25th    ^34       5 

Went  to  School  at  Wells     7 

Tiverton 

Entered  at  Exeter  College,  July  i  oth 1 648       9 

Retired  to  North  Cadbury   14 

Removed  to  Ubley    

Ordained    

Presented  to  St.  George's,  near  Bristol    

Married T 658 

Presented  to  Suddington  St.  Mary J^S     41 

St.  Peter 1662     44 

Published  the  Harmonia  Apostolica 1 669     79 

• Examen  Censurce    

Made  Prebendary  of  Gloucester 1678 

Published  the  Defensio  Fidei  Nicence  ^85   242 

Presented  to  Avening  1 685  298 

Appointed  archdeacon  of  Llandaff 1 686 

Took  the  degree  of  D.  D 1686 

Published  the  Judicium  Ecclesi<z  Catholicce...  1694  314 

Latin  works  edited  by  Grabe  1 703  342 

Made  bishop  of  St.  David's  1 705  347 

Died   1710 

LIFE  OF  BULL.  H  h 


INDEX. 


ABERGUILLY,  356. 

Abermarless,  373,  376,  404. 

Absolution,  393. 

Ackland,  Mr.  B.  9,  14. 

Adderley,  Mr.  E.  407. 

Alsop,  Mr.  224. 

Amyraldus,  168. 

Antinomians,  31,82,130,221,235. 

Arians,  240,  259,  261. 

Arminius,  271. 

Arundel,  Lord,  422,  426. 

Avening,  39,  298,  373. 

Baptism,  34,  53,  366. 

Barlow,  Dr.  90,  181,  1 88,  216. 

Bately,  Dr.  302. 

Bates,  Dr.  224,  226. 

Baxter,  R.  208,  214,  220,  442. 

Bellartnin,  209,  272. 

Beveridge,  Bishop,  355,  422. 

Booth,  Sir  G.  43. 

Bossuet,  250,  256,  293,  327,  332, 

406,  414. 
Bowyer,  343,  457. 
Brecknock,   356,  373,  375,  390, 

404,  405. 
Bridges,  R.  178. 
Bridgman,  Lord  Keeper,  12. 
Brigstock,  O.  Esq.  177. 
Bull,  Anne,  399. 

family  of,  5. 

G.  junior,  58,  351. 

Mrs.  39,  405,  407. 

R.  i,  401,  407,  411. 

W.  18. 

Butler,  Mr.  S.  8. 
Caermarthen,  376,  384,  386. 
Calvin,  270. 
Cartwright,  Mr.  C.  221. 


Catechising,  52,  308,  359. 

Censura,  89. 

Chapman,  Dr.  407. 
I  Charity  schools,  73,  380. 
i  Chauncy,  Dr.  224,  225,  232. 

Chedzoy,  19. 

Chillingworth,  22. 

Cirencester,  37,  43,  69. 

Clarendon,  Lord,  44. 

Clarke,  Dr.  275. 

Clerke,  G.  334,  426,  428,  435. 

Clifford,  Lord  Treasurer,  12. 

Clyro,  399. 

Cornenius,  335. 

Conant,  Dr.  10. 

Confirmation,  360. 

Councils,  251. 

Crandon,  Mr.  J.  220. 

Creed,  Apostles',  321. 

Hierosolymitan,  324. 

Crisp,  Dr.  210,  222. 

Cudworth,  289. 

Curcellseus,    246,  250,  252,  317, 

334- 

Defensio  Fidei  Nicenae,  239. 
De  Marets,  218,  246. 
Divinity,  study  of,  20. 
Doddington,  Mrs.  E.  6. 
Doughty,  Rev.  Mr.  423. 
Dry  field,  i,  49. 
Dunch,  Lady,  69. 
Edwards,  Dr.  J.  230,  284. 
Engagement,  The,  13. 
Episcopius,  152, 156, 246, 257, 314. 
Estius,  133. 

Examen  Censurse,  127,  196. 
Eyre,  Mr.  W.  220. 
Faith,  109. 


INDEX. 


467 


Familists,  130 

Fell,  Bishop,  242,  306. 

Fiennes,  214. 

Fowler,  Bishop,  438. 

Frampton,  Bishop,  78. 

Gataker,  Charles,  91, 121, 135,142. 

Thomas,  91,  121,  139. 

Glanvil,  Mr.  79. 

Good  Friday,  55. 

Grabe,  Dr.  333,  343,  426. 

Gregory,    Rev.   A.    37,    41,    43, 

326. 

Griffith,  Mr.  225. 
Grindal,  Archbishop,  305. 
Hale,  Sir  M.  72,  407. 
Hall,  Rev.  Mr.  25. 
Hammond,  Dr.  19,  146,  152,  156, 

161,  162,  164,  166. 
Hanger,  G.  Esq.  178,  326. 
Harmonia  Apostolica,  79. 
Havard,  Rev.  Mr.  394,  401. 
Hayward,  al.  Roberts,  69. 
Hewlings,  Eliz.  69. 
Hickes,  Dr.  329,  439. 
Hobbes,  442. 
Holydays,  54. 
Holy  Ghost,  259. 
Hoornbechius,  335. 
How,  Mr.  224,  226. 
Huetius,  281. 
Impropriations,  368. 
Jane,  Dr.  242,  306. 
Jeanes,  Rev.  H.  19. 
Judicium  Ecclesise  Catholica?,  314. 
Jurieu,  294. 

Justification,  80,  92,  189. 
Lawson,  Mr.  G.  221. 
Le  Clerc,  319. 
Libertines,  130. 
Liturgy,  33,  46. 
Lob,  Mr.  S.  225,  234. 
Long,  Rev.  T.  319. 
Lord's  Supper,  53,  77,  414. 
Lucy,  Bishop,  404. 
Lupton,  Dr.  419. 
Manwaring,  Bishop,  404. 
Maresius,  218,  246. 
Marshal,  Rev.  N.  346. 
Master,  Sir  W.  35,  37. 
Mather,  Mr.  224. 
Morgan,  Mr.  35. 
Morley,  Bishop,  89,  188. 
Mortuaries,  373. 
Moulin,  L.  du,  216. 
Naked  Gospel,  318. 
Nelson,  R.  i,  49,  67,  326,  406. 


Newburgh,  Countess  of,  66. 
Nichols,  Rev.  W.  319. 
Nicholson,    Bishop,    44,    70,   80, 

1 20,  126,  1 66,  176,  204. 
North  Cadbury,  14. 
Nottingham,  Earl  of,  237. 
Option,  304. 

Ordination,  23,  308,  361. 
Oxford,  9,  36,  293,  306. 

Earl  of,  346. 

Parker,  Mr.  J.  407. 
Parsons,  Archdeacon,  423,  425. 
Patrick,  Bishop,  216. 
Pearson,  Bishop,  78,  204,  275. 
Pelagianism,   85,  134,   167,   442, 

461. 

Pemble,  Rev.  W.  213. 
Petavius,  243,  250,  258,  272. 
Philips,  Rev.  Mr.  394. 
Pool,  Lady,  41. 
Popery,  67,  310. 
Popham,  Lord  Chief  Justice,  8. 
Possevin,  272. 
Powel,  Rev.  W.  357,  358. 
Prayers,  47,  56,  58,  358,  375,  379, 

4i5- 

Presbyters,  21. 
Prichard,  Mr.  R.  404. 
Prideaux,  Bishop,  u. 
Psalms,  Version  of,  61. 
Quakers,  25,  27,  68. 
Remonstrants,  257. 
Residence,  388. 
Roberts,  al.  Hayward,  69. 
Sampson,  Archbishop,  351. 
Sancroft,  Archbishop,  302. 
Sanderson,  Bishop,  33,  164,  185, 

216. 
Sandius,  241,  244,  253,  258,  334, 

429. 

Schools,  Charity,  73,  380. 
Sectaries,  32,  44,  220. 
Sermons,    26,   43,   48,   63,   358, 

401,  411. 
Shapwick,  5,  6. 

Sharp,  Archbishop,  23,  238,  347. 
Sheppard,  Mr.  P.  298. 
Sherlock,  Bishop,  290,  292,  319, 

423- 

Showers,  Mr.  224. 
Skinner,  Bishop,  21. 
Smalridge,  Dr.  346. 
Socinians,  240,  258. 
South,  Dr.  292,  319,  423. 
St.  David's,  350. 
St.  George's  25,  82. 


INDEX. 


Stephens,  Archdeacon,  40,  79, 299, 
357'  394.  399>  400,  406,  438. 

E.  Esq.  407. 

Stillingfleet,  Bishop,  216,  226, 
229,  235,  426. 

Stone,  Mr.  41. 

Suddington,  St.  Mary,  41,  399. 

St.  Peter,    44,    296, 

373>  399- 
Tawstock,  352. 
Taylor,  Bishop,  23,  152,  156. 
Tenison,  Archbishop,  347. 

Archdeacon,  376.    - 

Testimonials,  308. 
Thomas,  Rev.  W.  19. 

S.  20,  181. 

Tillotson,  Archbishop,  239. 
Tiverton  School,  8. 
Tombes,  Mr.  J.  91,  210,  212. 
Truman,  Mr.  J.  91,  140,  145,  147, 

!75. 
Tully,  Dr.  90,  91,  182,  187,  194, 

221. 


Ubley,  19. 

Usher,  Archbishop,  321. 

Visitation,  357. 

Vossius,  321,  323. 

Wading,  315. 

Wakes,  309. 

Wallis,  Dr.  221. 

Warren,  Mr.  J.  221. 

Watson,  Bishop,  347. 

Waugh,  Dr.  350. 

Wells,  5,  7. 

Wharton,  J.  407. 

Whiston,  286. 

Whitby,  Dr.  291. 

Whitgift,  Archbishop,  306. 

Williams,  Mr.  D.  221,  223,  225, 

233- 

Wollebius,  20. 
Works,  1 1 6. 
Wrey,  Sir  B.  352. 
Zuicker,  249,  252,  258,  333,  429. 
Zwinglius,  132. 


DATE  DUE 


78-3851,